A Question of Reality or Mortality?
by Benevolent Darkness
Summary: Harry, imbued with the power of a god, is thrown into another world. He becomes known as the Juubi, a godlike demon with unmatched power. Odd stuff always did happen to him. Will he keep his sanity? Read to find out. Harry/Kurenai pairing. Features crazy and insane aspects of death. Genin exams next chap. genre changes every few chaps. Current genre: action/drama
1. The intro's Intro or I'm Lovin' It

As always, I will start out with a question of relevance to the story. You can see it right after the author's note which ends at the line break.

My main characters don't always win. The characters you love will sometimes turn evil, and the characters you hate will sometimes become the greatest thing to hit the earth. I don't do comics with the underdog winning. I don't do action films where the antagonist is inches away from winning, and then the protagonist comes in in the last minute to grab victory in the jaws of defeat.

I do unrequited love. I do pain and hatred. I do psychotic and suicidal people. I do hatred and love and emotions that clash in painful ways. I do pain, repentance, and death. My ultimate plan is to create a new philosophical outlook at life and the world it encompasses. If you read, don't hate me for making a realistic world full of death. Expect the most humane characters to be dark, and the deadliest and vilest characters to be the ones you root for. With me, expect the world to split apart, and everybody to die suddenly and painfully. Expect anything and everything.

And don't worry. Not everything is bad. Many things are good, and there is comedy stuffed into little snippets. Once I seriously bring the aspects of death in, there will be plenty of comedy and humor. But this story WILL-FOCUS-ON-HARRY'S-WEAKNESSES. That means the process of memory and hopelessness. It means focusing on Harry's beliefs and thoughts on humanity and humility.

One last thing of note, is that I appreciate reviews greatly. Don't spout shit about how bad my story is without good reason, though. If it's personal preference, such as 'he's too overpowered', then go fuck yourself. I love reviews that actually point out FLAWS. Any help with plot holes would be nice, too. Other than that, I don't plan on updating until I have at least ten reviews. So hurry it up with the "Cool. Update soon"s and the "Um, but you said something else there and it doesn't make sense"s. Got it? Good.

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A question:

_What would happen if somebody were to banish another human?_

The answer would normally be answered as nothing. It was the truth; lay out on a silver platter. What resides on the golden platter, then? Endless possibilities…The knowledge of alternate realities and planets nothing like our own… This was found out by one Harry Potter in an un-inane accident.

Harry Potter, Boy-Who-Lived, Grand-Legendary-Sorcerer, Master of Death, immortal godlike being, The Harbinger of Peace, the Wolf of Destruction, (skip this if you must) Headmaster of Hogwarts, Minister of Magic, Head Auror, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera.

_Don't ask how he filled all of the positions at once; just use some of your unimaginative imaginations._

This story doesn't start with any dwarfs or fake magicians, but instead with what we would know as an ancient man who looked like he was still eighteen.

It all started when Harry Potter found the three 'Deathly Hallows', or as some might know (or not know in Harry's case), the Elder Wand, the Cloak of Invisibility, and the Stone of Resurrection.

The Elder Wand could kill anything; power unmatched…

The cloak of invisibility could hide somebody from death indefinitely and forever…

The Stone of Resurrection could revive any dead…

Their powers were magnified once a person had acquired all three, meaning that the person simply couldn't die, for one. They could also kill just by touch, spread deadly disease, and revive, truly revive under their control, an undead army. Harry just seemed to be in the crossfire.

So, after Voldemort's timely end came about, Harry was worshipped as a hero. He joined the Auror Corps; they quickly scooped him up for their division and Harry rose to the top in record time. More boring shit happened, and Harry soon got bored of his position. He quit officially, but as soon as another 'dark lord' came about, he was recruited right back in. This went on for a while, dark lords coming and dying at Harry's hand. If he didn't willingly fight, he was drafted to the position. Soon, he was forced into the position of Minister of Magic by popular appeal. He could do no wrong. He was the perfect person. Everybody loved him, and worshipped the ground he stood on, the chairs he sat on, and the toilets he shat in.

This somehow spread to other countries and by his thirtieth birthday if he wanted to, he could ask the other leaders to hand the world over to him and they would comply. The corrupt, the evil, and the idiots; they all loved him. He didn't even know why (and when he pondered, he always came to the conclusion of not really wanting to know). Blind faith went a long way.

When Harry turned fifty, he realized that he actually wasn't aging. At first, he simply assumed that he hit some sort of stunt in growth after his great growth spurt, but that apparently wasn't the case. His immediate assumption was the DeathlyHallows (which kept finding him every time he threw them away) and tried to destroy them; again…

Of course, he loved having power. Power meant no bad guys, and no bad guys meant peace. But they were too dangerous for somebody to get a hold of, so he attempted to incinerate them, crush them, bury them, choke them, hang them, and even try to chew them to death, but nothing worked. The Hallows always somehow came back to him (and it was always when he wasn't looking. Those things sometimes scared the crap out of him).

Other people were noticing it, too, and a small cult was organizing around him bent on peace through fear. The worst part was that whenever he said anything to them, they would interpret it wrong and end up doing something really crazy.

_Humans were stupid…_

The next question to figure out was when Harry started to refer to people as if he wasn't one. Too much thinking…

The day came when he decided it was time to retire and take a less strenuous position, and became headmaster of Hogwarts. Of course, it was easy as cake, and all he had to do was ask the current headmistress Professor Norkort to step down. Everybody listened to him. It was almost aggravating, because he couldn't have a good discussion or conversation anymore. Ron had died very painfully from the second dark lord after Voldemort and Hermione was always busy (she refused to take the money he offered her), saying something like "_The good of the people is at stake_".

_It was so utterly boring._

Years went by, and Harry delved into all of the aspects of magic. He learned all he could about everything; just to be ready for any unexpected happenings. You never know what could happen in a world like the one he lived in. In another fifty years, he decided to retire from being headmaster and began to think about finally ending his appropriately long life. He had already mastered charms, transfiguration, potions (thought that was a hard ass one to master), 'light arts', dark arts, arcane arts, mind arts, runes, just about everything else, and was even beginning his own line of magical arts that involve the addition of physical energy to the mental energy magic consisted of. He had written books about it, so it would be passed on, and he had nothing left to live for.

Because of his tremendously great luck, he managed to avoid getting any mortal wounds in his lifetime, and found that his smaller ones healed really fast. His logical conclusion was that he couldn't die normally, but he decided to try anyway. He took a knife at the age of 135 and stabbed himself up through the neck and into the brain.

_An in-depth version of the experience would be documented as:_

_Harry Potter, age 135 in years (not seconds, not minutes, and thankfully not decades), had had enough with life and wanted to move on. He was sitting in his kitchen, trying to ignore the zealots outside his house asking for enlightenment and slightly succeeding, thinking about what he could do to actually die. Because he had stopped aging, he figured that he couldn't die from age or disease. His cuts healed at an insanely fast rate, so he presumed that he couldn't die from getting hurt. Maybe if he tried to separate his soul from his body and send it to the afterlife? But that would take years!_

_Absently, he reached over and grabbed a knife. "What the hell, couldn't hurt to try."_

With a fast stab upwards, he cut through the bottom of his chin and right into his head so fast that pain didn't even register. His body fell, and blackness met him.

_The blackness of eternal sleep…_

Harry opened his eyes and only saw black; black everywhere. For a moment, he wondered how he was standing, but then realized that dead people didn't have any legs. In fact, how was he even conscious? Wasn't death supposed to be the end? Eh, too much thinking. Maybe there was an afterlife. After all, how would his parents have helped him when he fought Voldemort after the Triwizard Tournament? So, when was he going to see them?

"Well, at least I'm dead."

"Yes, you're dead. Your body is, anyways." The new voice sounded familiar…

Harry turned and looked at where the new voice came from and saw, floating in the air, in all of his evil and terrible glory, Voldemort. The snake…thing…was wearing a black robe with a hood that suited him well and was seen carrying a very rotted broom with a scythe-like blade extending from the side. Harry couldn't help it; he burst out laughing.

"You- you're death!? This has to be some sort of ironic joke! How the hell did that happen!?"

Voldemort did not look amused. "I'm not the true death. I am simply an aspect of the greater picture. I'm the aspect of immortality, representing the one you believed came closest to it. I've been sent because I'm a 'familiar face' as they put it. I'm here to welcome you."

"Why would you welcome me? Shouldn't I just go to, I don't know, where my family is or something?" Harry was having a bit of trouble keeping his giggle out of the conversation.

"You're the Master of Death. It wouldn't look good if death's master wasn't welcomed. You can do whatever you want now. I don't care."

Voldemort rolled his eyes and turned away. He began to walk off into oblivion until he was stopped by one last question.

"So, Master of Death is a job? What do I have to do? Where would I work?"

Voldemort turned. "You don't have to do anything. If you want to work, make a desk or something; I don't care. If I never have to see you again, I'd be fine with that." And he disappeared.

Harry shrugged and turned, but then realized he didn't have any body and started thinking about how he could see if he didn't have any eyes. After five minutes of thinking, he pondered the motion of shrugging without any shoulders, and then shrugged again. Very suddenly his eyes snapped open.

"Wait a second. If I don't have any body, how can I get anywhere?" And a body materialized around him. It was quite odd.

Then, some sort of gravity pulled him down. He fell, and fell, and fell. Ten seconds into screaming, he got used to it and assumed a relaxed position, waiting for the ground to come. When it finally did, he was jolted awake, still with a knife in his chin, and out of his chair. He got up and took a sip of the tea he had prepared; he stood up completely forgetting about the knife and walking to the door to tell the religious idiots to shut up. Needless to say, that day his cult turned into a religion and that religion became the most popular and powerful in the world.

More years went by; a total of maybe a thousand. The world was beginning to finally get into space after that stagnant point where nothing big happened. Harry had perfected the combination of his normal magic with physical energy. Throughmuch trial and error, he discovered that in order to gain physical energy he needed to be stronger. Human limitations stunted that, but after he combined the two, he could suddenly do things no other person could do. His agility, speed and strength went beyond human limitations and continued to grow exponentially. His power, while unfocused when combined, was much more destructive. Mastery over the elements was incorporated, and when not used through a wand, the elements could be controlled through hand shapes until perfected enough to be channeled without them. The possibilities were endless.

One side effect was his eyes. They became silvery with comma-filled rings twirling around his pupils. It wasn't that bad, but it started another cult of demon worshippers who thought he was a demonic god in contrast to the benevolent god everybody else thought of him as. Sometimes he wondered why he went into the public anymore. Oh yeah, people would bother him a lot more if he didn't. How did they even remember him?

Again… too much thinking…

Throughout all of this, he made frequent visits to the afterlife. Voldemort didn't like them, but Harry didn't really care about that snake… human… thing's opinion. Harry made sure to give thanks and talk to everybody. He had plenty of time, but eventually they were all reborn anew as something or someone else. It always took a thousand years, but if he ever wanted to see them again he could just use his mastery of death to recreate their souls and talk with the replications for a while. Creating life was the beginning of death, so it was within his power to make an aspect of death do it for him. Maybe he really was god, or something. He preferred not to think about it.

He was like the CEO of a company, only he wasn't fat or a (complete) asshole. Death was his underpaid worker(s) that did everything he wanted without (much) complaint. It was the perfect business structure. The leader gets everything and the workers get nothing. Fun…

As for Harry's animagus form, which he finally finished 800 or so years ago, he was a wolf. It wasn't just any wolf, though, but a wolf influenced by the title Master of Death. The breed was very rare, and some didn't believe the species even existed. They were feared just as much as the grim, and for similar reasons. While the grim would be seen whenever somebody was about to die, this particular wolf could actually spread disease via airborne toxins as a defense feature, similar to a Nundu. Nobody that ever saw one had ever survived.

Mythology and folklore characterized them very accurately, actually. They generally had black or brown fur, Harry's being black, with designs spreading across their coat. Harry didn't have any designs on his animagus form, so he was pitch black like his hair. The wolf's height was that of a fully grown man when standing on all four legs. The fur itself was thin and fine, like a fur jacket some rich hag would wear. The biggest and most prominent feature, though, was his single eye. It was a normal black shade originally, but because of the side effects of the physical energy it evolved into the shape of his new eyes with their commas and rings.

It was because of this that he got the title "Wolf of Destruction." People bought it and soaked it up right away, using his animagus form as the symbol of their religions in various ways. Wars happened over which religion was correct, even though they all revolved around him. It could get so annoying and troublesome sometimes. Why didn't anybody take the 'no killing' at face value? It did not mean 'all who don't obey the god's law should be executed for blasphemy.' Because execution wasn't murder, therefore it was allowed.

The biggest reason this topic was brought up was because of Harry's experiments on the effects of physical energy being added to an animagus transformation. This wouldn't be said if it wasn't important to the story (well, actually even it wasn't important, I might say it anyways, but I digress. It's like time travel. Don't listen because it makes no sense, but understand the concept.). Now, it might be a given to try this, but it was simply something that Harry hadn't wanted to do until he tried to calculate the effects using Coinethmancy. Arithmancy didn't work when adding the effects of physical energy, so it was useless after a certain time. Coinethmancy, though, worked by using the twelve zodiac symbols and calculated imprints of physical and mental energy mixing energies moved in specific patterns around the body to create a physical representation of the mind; whereas magic would use threes and sevens, this energy used a lot of fours and sixes. It was somewhat odd.

His calculations predicted a power boost, and possible permanent side-effects not unlike those of completing the animagus transformation. When one becomes an animagus, they might adopt some of the animal's personality or traits. The physical energy would make a more physical change to his body. He could expect clawed nails or sharper canines or something similar. He honestly didn't care, was preparing a ritualistic circle of runes that would activate to dull any and all pain or unwanted feelings that could possibly be felt during the change, and began his animagus transformation.

He added spiritual energy, the makeup of magic, to augment the change and speed it up. Then, he did as his calculations indicated and pushed physical energy through his body to perfect his animagus transformation. The results were… staggering.

Harry looked down at his completely ruined mansion and all of the people dead at his feet. All four of his house sized feet. More specks- no, they were people- gathered around his hulking body, bowing down to him like he had just given them all everything they had ever wanted. Harry looked back down at his mansion's wreckage.

"Damn. And I liked that one."

He looked around again, examining the tiny landscape before realizing he was standing on another mansion with his left back foot, a park with his front one, and his right feet were on roads eight blocks to the side. Looking back, he was a bit put off when he saw ten tails floating behind him. It was one of those _'what is the point of having ten tails floating behind me'_ moments. It didn't make any sense, and the pointlessness of it was astounding. But, that was before he delved into the pure euphoria of power he had.

_The power…_

It was simply enormous. Harry felt like he could do anything. He felt like he was actually a god. He felt all of the power beaming through him and reveled in its texture and feel. It felt so natural and almost opaque. It was heavy just as it was opaque, like it was full. It was true. Not like _'true and false'_ but like perfection. Harry felt perfect. He also noticed that his tails held an insane amount of his power at bay and figured that without them his power would simply overwhelm his body and destroy everything until he learned how to properly control it.

With an almost longing look, he shifted back into his human form and sat among the broken ramparts. The funny thing was, he didn't feel a decrease in his power. He was afraid that he would lose that feeling of perfection when he shifted back to human, but it was still there. It was, not to be redundant, perfect. Harry apparated to another one of his mansions and relaxed in front of a mirror. The physical changes were startling, but when you were Harry, you could care less.

Harry still had ten tails flowing behind him, processing his power and regulating its destructive force. His nails were nigh indestructible, were pointed (making it a bitch to play any guitar), and his teeth were serrated and sharp as hell. Harry thought that he looked pretty badass, if he did say so himself.

Harry went about being a recluse for several more centuries, trying to discern everything he could. He found that his new energy could copy five main elements, and used signs similar to his combination of physical and spiritual energy. It was like a perfect combination of the two, and was easier to control. He then found that beyond those five tiers there were the other elements, created by the combination of the previous five. And then, he found that using his power he could control gravity and the planet itself, as well as the cycle of life and death directly (he was sure it was a side effect of the hallows).

Using the refined new energy, he found that his physical power wasn't increasing as much, but when he used the unrefined version by physically combining the two energies, all of his power became both unfocused and destructive.

A simplified version would be:

Magic = spiritual or mental.

Spiritual + Physical = New energy

New energy + Animagus = Refined New Energy (which is less powerful, but more resilient)

Refined New energy + New energy = Colossally powerful energy.

Easy, right?

Onwards. With the refined version of his new energy he could also affect people to plant them in illusions. It was so great that he began to let loose energy from his body in excitement and everybody that he looked at screamed and fell unconscious. Apparently none of those people ever woke up again. After that experience he made sure to limit the energy he gave off, especially from his eyes.

This brings us to the point where the true story begins. This is what all of the excitement leads up to. This is LIFE! This is what could be considered the beginning of a new era. This is where it all begins and ends. Be ready, because it is truly perfect.

And here we go.

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And one last thing...

And review...

And follow...

And review...

Because (I didn't say and) I need ten reviews.

And review...

I would like to say that this chapter has been updated to flow more smoothly, and it's all because of my new beta "Older than Time." I'd like everybody who reads this chapter and likes it to thank him for making my sentences actually make sense. You can thank him in a review or something or other, but you should thank him for his hard work. I reread this through for his edits, and they all, especially the structural editing, have made this so much more interesting.


	2. The intro Or Six Path the Kid

So, I got bored with waiting for reviews and settled for the two I got yesterday when I uploaded the story. Here's the next chapter. I hope you enjoy it.

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Harry Potter, age unknown, was stalking lazily up to the next dark lord. He was happy because finally somebody decided to revolt against him, but the man had killed too many people to let live. So, without a care, he strolled into the secret corridor the man hid in and walked right in front of him.

The man, who looked to be in his mid 40s, had prematurely graying hair and mercury eyes which accentuated his flawless face. Black robes flowed around his frame, giving an almost death-like look (though he couldn't be death. Harry knew that.). The man looked very confident he could win, and had a very smug smile on his face. Harry just thought the man was crazy.

"I'm glad you made it, God. I was looking forwards to this meeting for a very long time."

Harry watched for a good time, letting the villain give his little monologue like all villains did. Harry had manners, too. Kinda.

The man continued. "You see, my plan this whole time was to catch you and force you to leave this earth. If you can't die, then I'll trap you somewhere you can never get out."

Now, Harry was getting slightly nervous.

"My ancestors have been working on this sealing array for a very long time. I recently perfected it. All I had to do was get you down here, right overtop of it."

Harry's eyes shot open in fear. He wasn't a god, even if everybody believed he was. People could trap him if they knew how. Not in a specific space, but if they forced him into space or something, he could do nothing about it. Harry did the only thing he could, and transformed to get out.

"Nu-uh-uh. You're not allowed to leave until I'm done." With a motion of the man's hand, Harry couldn't move. Harry would be able to break free with pure destructive force, but that would take a minute with all of the store magical power powering the wards and runes. He began overloading the runes as fast as he could.

"So, knowing how you react, I killed some people and made a public image of rebelling against you. I knew that you hated people blindly listening to you, so when I revolted, you would seek me out personally. As you can see, it worked."

Harry was almost free. Only a few more seconds.

"Now, let's see if this actually works." The man pushed magic into the sealing array and forced a second one overtop, doubling the effectiveness.

Harry couldn't move. He could only watch as a bright light faded to a black hole and sucked Harry in. Other things began to move in, too, but suddenly stopped when the only remaining living thing in the present space died. That one man who managed to end the tyranny of the god died with a smile on his face and a tear of relief spiraling down his cheek. His body would be later found mutilated by the nearby citizens. The world kept worshipping their deity, but he was never seen again.

Harry woke up on a tuft of green grass. There were some forested areas in the distance all around, and mountains in the direction of the sun. With nothing else to do, Harry explored around, looking for any sign of non plant life. Over the next year of fast travel, he found absolutely nothing. In an attempt to create some form of entertainment, he conjured several sheets of paper and began to design creatures that could inhabit the serene world he found himself on. Besides his designs, he researched his capacity for dimensional and time related magic.

Satisfied with the designs he grafted, Harry made a quick trip to the afterlife. Walking through the representation of Hogwarts that the Death of beginning had created, Harry couldn't help but admire some of the architecture that he hadn't seen in a thousand years. It was so majestic and beautiful.

After a minute of contemplation, he continued on his path to the headmaster's office to talk with Creation. Coming to the stone gargoyle, he whispered in an eerie voice "laughing licorice" and waited for the stairs to descend.

Walking up the steps, he paused slightly at the door to contemplate which directive to take. A moment later, he simply kicked the door in and yelled "Creation, get your ass over here. I need you to do something."

When a coughing sounded, Harry took a double-take and glanced into the room. Dumbledore sat in his headmaster's chair, staring at Harry with an appraising look in his eyes. "Good day to you Harry. What brings you to my office this morning?"

Harry deadpanned. "Good to see you, too. Now, where's Creation?"

"You don't want to see an old man like me? You hurt my heart."

"What are you doing here, anyways? It's not like you're about to be reincarnated."

Dumbledore smiled at Harry. "I knew you would be coming here again eventually. I just wanted to talk a little bit and see how you're doing."

Sighing, Harry took a seat across from Albus Dumbledore. He loved the man after forgiving him for all of the shit the man put him through, but now was not the time. As patient as he was, when Harry got an idea, there wasn't enough time in the world. But, this was Albus they were talking about, so Harry relented. "Fine."

"You make it sound so bad."

"Eh. It's talking to you." Harry left it at that. "So, how have you been?"

"I've been doing just fine. We all miss you, you know. You should visit more."

Harry smiled a bit, happy that people still loved him for him. "I would, but I've been very busy discovering new things. You wouldn't imagine what I've come up with. It'll blow your mind."

"Really. I don't have much of a mind left to blow, but I'll listen anyhow." Dumbledore smiled serenely.

"I've discovered a way to concentrate and fuse physical energy with magic."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. It's like combining strength with magic, and when you do that, you can pass the limitations of both. You can surpass human limitations."

"That sounds most… intriguing. When I'm reincarnated, maybe you can show my personally. It would certainly be interesting."

Harry's smile widened very much. "I would be honored to."

"So, what else has happened since I last spoke to you?" Dumbledore asked.

"Well, I became an animagus and mastered everything I could think of. I'm also trying to work out everything else my new energy can do."

"What kind of animal are you?"

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

Dumbledore smiled a knowing smile. "Try me."

"I became a five hundred foot tall Enderwhil with ten tails."

Dumbledore sat there for a moment. "You're right. I don't believe you." Harry looked at the man for a moment, smile gone. "But, I'll trust you." And Harry's smile was once again as full as the moon.

Small talk continued for another half hour, but was eventually interrupted by Creation when the door slammed open.

"IIIIIIIIIIIIII'm HOOOOOOOOOOME! But nobody's here to greet me… again."

This new arrival had brown hair that spiked up into a mohawk and parted into a mullet which draped over his shoulders. His face was very feminine in appearance despite the crazy hairdo. He had a thin face with larger lips and a small nose. His greenish eyes were surrounded by purple eyeliner and his lips had a cherry lipstick coating.

He wore green pants and a yellow shirt with tree designs crossing around it. His fingers were abnormally long, and his nails were painted yellow with white and blue flowers. Lastly, he wore high heels. All in all, he looked exactly like a cross dresser. It was a horrifying sight, but Harry had learned to ignore it.

Creation heard a cough and spied Dumbledore and Harry sitting in his office. The man had the decency to at least look a bit embarrassed.

"Looks like I'm not as alone as I think. HI HARRY! HOW YA DOIN!?"

Harry was able to cover his ears before the man spoke, used to the raised voice. Dumbledore, though, was left unprepared. He could be seen with his pinky in his ear trying to get his ears to stop ringing.

"Is he always like that?"

"Yeah. All of the deaths have their own perks, like Jashin, who's completely addicted to blood, or Demony, who's addicted to sex. They all have problems."

"Oh" Dumbledore said. He turned to Creation. "Could you keep it down a bit, please?"

"Sure" Creation replied. "But first, HOW THE HELL DID YOU GET IN HERE!?"

Dumbledore waited a second for his ears to stop ringing again, before replying. "The door was unlocked."

Through all of this, Harry was watching with a gaping mouth. Why the hell didn't he think of simply asking Creation to be quiet? Harry made his way to the wall and began to smash his head into it saying "Stupid… stupid… stupid…"

The other two were too busy talking about locking doors and making better passwords such as 'lemon drops' to notice for five whole minutes. And because of Harry's fast healing and immortality, Harry could have done that all day. It all came to an end, though, when Creation suddenly turned to get Harry's opinion on the password 'creation' because it was a 'totally awesome password that nobody would ever guess' and knocked Harry out of his blissful head-smacking.

"Never mind that. What I came here for is your specialty of creation. I need you to make this" he handed his numerous sketches to the man, "for me on the planet I'm currently residing on. Can you do that?"

Creation nodded very quickly. "Sure! I would be honored to have an actual job to do! It gets so boring here doing nothing but walking around the castle and gambling with the other deaths."

Harry nodded with a smile. "Thanks. You two take care."

Dumbledore's eyes widened slightly. "Wait! Don't leave me here!"

And Harry was gone.

"Don't worry. We can have so much fun together," Creation said in glee.

Back in the world of the living, dimension number two, Harry watched life flourish and live. Since Harry was tired of bipedal life, he had designed intelligent giant animals. He had a dog tribe, a cat tribe, a toad tribe, a snake tribe, a dragon tribe, a slug tribe (because he wanted to), a falcon tribe, a lizard tribe, a monkey tribe, and many more. Each were given specific abilities, also. For instance, the monkeys could mimic certain weapons and the toads could control water to a certain extent. It made it so interesting.

Years passed, and then decades. Harry watched the life he had created while practicing. The planet began to get more sophisticated and the animals had adopted a language similar to Japanese. They built homes and marked out territory. The toads and snakes gained a terrible rivalry, but the slugs would mediate between the two, so nothing major happened. The dogs and hawks made alliances and the lizards were on friendly terms with the slugs. Actually, pretty much every animal was friendly towards the slugs. It was amazing.

Harry had created a way to channel his power into other beings, and developed rituals to control more things besides just his power alone. As far as rituals went, he could control his very anatomy. Harry could use his spine as a spear and his skull as a cup. He used a specific ritual to augment his illusions so that the person's body actually believed they were being tormented and forced the body to act like the illusion was.

Besides that, he could heal very well by channeling his energy into another being and mending their skin together but speeding up the duplication of cells. He taught the slugs how to heal because of their impartial attitude, and let them be the healers of the rest of the planet.

In the power transference area, he had invented a rune that would allow certain beings to absorb a specific piece of his power. Harry would get it back almost as soon as it was gone, such was his immense power, but another being would then have that power, too. Using this, he gave certain toads the ability to see the future, and allowed all animals to know a piece of his power. Surprisingly, over the next several decades, the animals developed an energy similar to his which flowed through certain cords in their bodies.

Using this power, they all developed their own techniques and specialized in their own arts. It also allowed some of them to get so powerful that they had to grow to colossal sizes just to hold that power in their mortal bodies, an unexpected side-effect.

Harry was once again worshipped as a god, but by then he was so used to it that he easily ignored it. He could live with it. It was one of those 'whatever' moments and he decided to take a nap over it.

While he hated picking favorites, he really liked the dogs. They were so eccentric about what shampoo they used that Harry had to laugh, but they made such intelligent conversation that Harry just had to hang out with them more than anybody else. Nobody would recognize him, either, because he developed a technique that would disguise him from anything and nobody would notice. It was great!

Now comes the fun part (what? The other parts were way too fun? Well, then, you're about to have a brain fart.) Harry, using his ever-evolving power that could now see through solid objects and even see the cords of power in other people, discovered another parallel dimension with an incredibly weak barrier. He had been practicing his dimensional powers, which were somehow augmented by his eyes, but he didn't have anything to practice on. So, when he discovered this barrier, he was certifiably giddy with excitement.

In one fell swoop, a vortex formed around him and pulled him in. Let out silently and swiftly, he landed on the grass right next to a dirt path. There were occasional trees scattered about, but no forests. Wrapping the illusion of a normal human being around himself like a blanket, he set off down the dirt path.

The biggest reason he didn't want to walk around like he was, was because he had a very small hope that he wouldn't be seen as a god. He could only hope. And prey… to himself…

After about an hour of travelling, Harry came to the fortified wooden walls of a small village. There were people wandering around, minding their own business, and living their lives. Through the gates, there were farms that grew corn, primarily. Harry was just about to walk in when twenty men with pikes filed out of the village and surrounded him.

One man stepped forwards, his age looking to be about twenty. He wore the same garb as the rest, that of a silk shirt and linen pants. It all looked to be hand-made by master weavers. His was mostly red and black. His pike looked more detailed and intricately carved than the rest, complete with some sort of serpents twisting around the handle. His face was set serious, with his brown eyes narrowed. There was no hair to blow epically in the wind, but even without hair he looked pretty badass in Harry's opinion. He spoke in a dialect mirroring the one the animals picked up.

"Who are you? What clan do you descend from?"

Ooooh. Drama. "I'm just a wanderer. I don't have a clan."

He looked unimpressed. "What village do you come from?"

"I told you. I'm a wanderer. I don't come from any village, and I'm not even from around here."

"Tell me your name, wanderer." He said that in an almost mocking manner.

"My name his Harry Potter." Harry smiled serenely.

The man made a motion with his hand and the other people went to grab Harry. Harry, himself, wasn't in the mood for anything, so with a spin he increased the gravity around him and pushed the warriors into the ground where they couldn't move. Three of them had broken legs if Harry counted correctly. With that, Harry turned and left before anything else could happen.

Taking a seat in the grass fifteen minutes away, he recounted his recent encounter. His conclusion: "Well, they have no manners at all."

Harry began to doze off into a nice sleep under the sun until he was interrupted by a voice. "Are you okay, mister?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," he said with closed eyes. Couldn't he get any sleep at all?

"May I join you? It looks nice there in the shade of that tree."

"Sure," Harry responded. "Just be quiet."

Harry heard some rustling and a body situated next to him. Before long both were asleep, dreaming of whatever they dreamt about. They stayed like that for the rest of the evening and into the night, and even through the night to the next morning.

When Harry woke up, it was privy to a body lying over top of him, its mouth mere inches away from his own and a sliver of drool dangling dangerously close to his face. Harry had the only reasonable reaction a person could have.

"AAAAAAAHHHHHHH! WHAT THE HELL!" It was said in English, so the young boy didn't understand what was said, but the boy woke up with a start nonetheless.

The boy got into what could be considered a fighting stance, making Harry raise an eyebrow. The boy didn't relax after checking the area, instead focusing on Harry. The boy's black hair blew a bit in the constant breeze, making the hair seem longer than it was. Black eyes focused on Harry's now-green.

"I'm not going to hurt you. Don't worry."

The boy didn't seem to believe Harry at all.

Harry put his hands up a bit in a hopefully placating manner. "I promise not to do anything."

"Do you have any food?" the boy asked after relaxing slightly.

Harry took a second look at the boy, just now noticing the very thin and slightly pale complexion, along with the darker spots that looked like bruises. "Are you alright? Did somebody hurt you?"

The boy immediately became guarded once again. "I'm fine."

"Tell me, what's wrong?" Harry added a bit of mind arts to prod the boy into speaking.

"I… I had to steal some food for myself because I was hungry." Tears began to fall from his face. "My mommy was hurt, so she couldn't do anything. I-I had to do something. But when I took some meat, the shop owner beat me out of my village. I don't have anything left."

He collapsed on the ground, crying. The sobs soaked the ground and the air. Harry rubbed his back and tried to console him, but it didn't do much. Harry let the boy cry, not really knowing what to do at that point.

When the boy finally looked up, about an hour later, there was a wooden table set out in the field with plates covered in food laid out on top. Chopsticks, the apparent customary eating tool, were set next to the plates. The boy stared for a moment, but after that brief cursory glance he rushed the table and began to eat as fast as he could. Harry laughed until the boy threw up and Harry had to make more food for him.

"You shouldn't eat too much after not eating for a long time. It's bad for the belly."

The boy merely nodded and ate some more, only at a more sedate pace. Harry chuckled a bit, but when the boy looked at him questioningly, he stopped. When it was all done and gone, Harry began to leave, setting down the opposite path and away from the evil little village.

About five steps in, the boy ran and joined Harry. Harry glanced to the side and sighed. "You're going to just keep following me, aren't you?" At the boy's nod, he continued. "Then my name is Harry Potter. Nice to meet you."

"I'm Rikudou Akai. But you can call me Akai! So, where are you from P-poo-tt"

"Just call me harry," he said with a sigh.

"Okay Hari!"

"It's Harry."

"That's what I said. Hari."

"Harry. Like Haaaaaa, and then EEEEEEE."

"That spells Hari."

"Oh, forget it. Yes, my name is Hari. I'm a wanderer, so I don't really live anywhere. I simply walk around a lot and move around."

Akai looked enthralled. "That's awesome! But how do you defend yourself against the bad people?"

"Well… I do this," and with that he blew a large fireball out of his mouth. The boy watched in complete and total awe, before giddily jumping and bouncing on the tips of his toes.

"Teach me! Please! That's soooooooo cool! You have to tell he how you do it!" This went on for a while until the kid finally quieted down.

"Finally. Now maybe I can think in peace."

And they kept down the road, passing various armed people who all looked way too on guard for their own good, until they came to a fork in the road. Harry sat down to contemplate and sense which way went where, while the kid started to play some kind of game involving pointing at the paths. With one last thought, Harry lay down and went to sleep, hoping that blissful unawareness would help with the thought processes.

"Yes… that sounds like a good idea" he whispered out loud.

* * *

As always, I expect you to review. I actually want at least ten reviews (hopefully twenty) by the time I update next. I'll try to limit myself to wait for you to review before posting, but it's not entirely certain, as I've already finished the next chapter. Three chapters in two days. I'm on a role.

Like I said... review or die.

If you don't know when I said that, then it's because I didn't. Just use your imaginations.

If there are any questions or concerns, then contact me via REVIEW.

See ya.

Benedark (nickname) signing off.


	3. Dying is Lame

I'm still looking for reviews, but the number of follows I have been getting have forced my hand for this next chapter. I hope that you all find it adequate, and enjoyable. Now, though, your reviews on what you want to see happen are even more important, let alone powerful for the whole plot development.

So I ask you, dear readers. Help me. Please help me and do your duty. Review. It might save the world.

* * *

"It's right to the nearest town. I want to get a map."

"No, it's left."

"And how do you know it's left?"

"Because that's the path that my finger pointed to when I spun around with my eyes closed."

"Really. It's right. Now come on."

The kid pouted at loosing the pointless argument and caught up to Harry. They walked for another hour, but made it to the town easily. The town definitely had a warmer welcoming committee for the two.

When they got to the gates, it was a simple check to determine if either of the two had any weapons on them. Then they walked in and got used to the town life for about twenty minutes. Harry transfigured some things into tradable merchandise such as soap and salt, among other things. It was a world that hadn't yet evolved past the era of bartering, but that was alright in Harry's opinion. As long as you had something another person needed, you could get anything. Trading stuff for food (because he wanted to, dammit!) he sat down with Akai to eat.

Food was very bland, but it was fine. Harry didn't need anything fancy. After that, it was a fast stop to get a map of the region and leave the place. They were soon on the road again.

It was several days later that they were ambushed by a squadron of bandits and thugs.

Harry had been sleeping in the grass, as usual, until he was woken up by the sound of grunting like in a struggle. When he opened his eyes, they came to the sight of a shocked face. The face itself was ugly and looked like a pile of shit, but that was beside the point. The point was that Harry now had a knife lodged in his neck, and it hurt.

For those of you wondering, Harry only dies if he wants to die.

Pissed off and annoyed, yes they are separate feelings, Harry stood up slowly. It always worked to put an eerie vibe in idiots. It made them either freeze up or run screaming. While the second one was unpreferred, it was still funny.

What came next when he took a step, though, made him freeze.

"Don't c-come any closer. W-we'll kill him!"

Harry looked slightly to the side, and at the sight of a man holding Akai with a knife to the boy's throat, Harry couldn't move. Of course, he knew what death was and therefore knew not to be afraid of it, but nobody else did. At the fearful and pleading expression on the boy's face, Harry remembered himself as a kid and what he thought of dying. This kid was scared and was looking at Harry for support. Harry was looked at as some kind of hero. Not a god, and not some perfect person, but as a hero and protector. And that boy was currently being held a knifepoint.

Those fuckers are going down.

Harry glanced into the eyes of the man holding the knife. What was once a man was now and forever a husk of coma-ridden nothingness. The boy began to fall over, but Harry, being fast and strong like he was, was able to seemingly appear right next to the kid and catch him. They looked at each other for a second, the boy's eyes closing slightly before snapping shut. Arms enveloped Harry, squeezing him tight like he was the only thing keeping the boy alive.

"Thank you…" he whispered before relaxing and falling asleep.

Harry easily dodged a thrown rock and disappeared. Reappearing behind a tree three hundred yards away, he set the boy down and rushed back into battle. Mostly dodging the various spiked sticks, he threw in a couple kicks which broke their ribs and fractured some bones. He may not know any martial arts, but with his strength, he easily made up for his lack of style.

By the end of his playing, some of the thugs were still standing, the ones with dislocated and fractured arms. Every one with broken bones were already unconscious from pain. The begging and whining aside, the rest of those able tried to run away, but found themselves blocked by a brick wall that seemingly came out of thin air. A second later, black flames ate away at their flesh and kept burning… and burning…

"What the hell? Why is it still burning? That technique was calculated to only burn organic things. This requires more research." With a wave of his hand, the fires died. The bodies were no more, the wall was no more, and there was a five-foot crater in the ground with what looked like diamonds plating it.

A minute later, all belongings and the boy were collected and Harry was on his travels once again.

Four hours later, it was about noon. That was the time the boy finally woke up. And as soon as he woke up, the boy threw his arms around Harry and held him until food was ready.

Food. The boy said that the meal was the best he had ever tasted in his life. He said that he felt so alive and so happy. It was like his near-death experience opened his eyes to the world, and now he just wanted to live. Everything had more vibrant shades of green and yellow. The sky wasn't just blue anymore, but a brilliant shade of baby blue that lay on everything's back. The sun wasn't just the sun, but a symbol of life and warmth. Everything seemed so perfect compared to what it was before.

Then, there was that will to live, and the will to only make Hari proud. He would learn to protect himself and make the world a better place. He would train his body and mind so Hari wouldn't have to protect him anymore. He would become beyond strong. He would make a lasting impact on the world, and would be remembered as the person to save the world.

They packed up and left, Akai with a new vigor and Harry with a new determination.

It was that night that Akai began to train himself by running and doing pushups. He fought through the exhaustion, pushing himself until he fell unconscious. Beads of sweat rolled down his face as he lay there, exhausted. When the boy was certifiably asleep, another presence made itself known in the shape of Harry Potter. Harry smiled one of his knockout smiles and carried Akai over to the tent where they both slept until morning.

This pattern continued for several days, leading up to their next brawl with bandits looking for a quick buck. The two wanderers had been walking along when ten guys jumped out from either side and demanded all of their belongings.

"What is it with you people? You'd be more successful beating up other bandits." This was Harry.

"Yeah!" Akai agreed. "I'll beat you all by myself!"

Akai ran forwards, very clumsily, and took a swing at one of the bandits. The bandit immediately grabbed the boy's arm before it could connect to his face and pulled Akai into a choke hold. Akai struggled for a moment while Harry shook his head slightly at the blatant stupidity shown by Akai in that moment.

The rest of the fight was a very close repeat of the last one. The bandits all ended up holding their sides from light taps, and scrambled to run off before being burned to death. Akai was in awe of the whole thing.

"Oh my god! That's awesome! You have to show me how to do it, now. You HAVE to!"

Harry chuckled when Akai pouted at the silence.

"You'll never teach me, will you?"

Harry's chuckling became full out laughter. "Sure. I'll train you, so next time you do something stupid I won't have to save you."

He was forced to cover his ears from the astronomically loud "YEAH!" that resulted from the statement.

So, that night Harry created a ritual circle that would allow Akai to adapt to Harry's power during the transference. Akai slept and Harry worked. The glowing runes shown a brilliant silver instead of the normal blue, and while Harry didn't know why, he figured it was specific to him. They formed two circles with a wiry connection made out of 'fusion' runes which would connect two beings or pieces, in this case the runes. The circles would bind Harry's power to Akai, giving the boy a small piece of his power. Then, Harry would train Akai in the usage of the power and therefore Akai would be able to defend himself against anything that came his way.

Harry fell asleep on the grass right next to the completed circles. When he woke up, it was to Akai standing over him, bouncing with excitement. The boy looked like it was his birthday or something. It was like the angels told him he was the son of god, or something.

Depending on the religion, that may have not been far from the truth.

The perpetual wind that had yet to cease died out very suddenly. Harry moved to his circle and told Akai to move to the other. Harry chanted in English, a language that Akai was obviously unfamiliar with. The runes began to glow even brighter, changing from the silver they were into a brilliant red. A flash rang bright, and then it all ended. It was very anticlimactic.

This ritual was different from the ones he did with the animal creatures. In the one with the animals, he specified what attribute to give them. With Akai, though, he didn't single anything out and instead left it to chance. The reason that the boy wouldn't get all of Harry's powers was because of the limiter, which made sure that the boy didn't die from too much power. Because of that, Akai would get certain abilities that Harry had, but it wasn't certain. It would probably be the most useful attributes, though.

When Akai opened his eyes, Harry gasped in surprise. The eyes of the boy had changed to a silvery color in contrast to the black they were traditionally, and had rings circling his eyes that were of a darker silver quality. Harry saw that, just like the animals, Akai didn't inherit the separation of energy, but instead the perfect combination like the rest. Harry could work with that.

And thus, the training of the boy who would be known as the sage of six paths began. History would be set for millennia to come. Then, it would all change again. Everything would change.

They trained. They laughed, and they cried, and they had a very good time, overall. When Akai turned thirty, though, he had noticeably stopped aging. Harry was the first to notice. Harry didn't say anything, because he had hoped that it was only a phase. It wasn't.

Akai noticed several years after Harry, and when he brought it up, Harry refused to say anything on the subject. Akai kept bringing it up, though, and soon brought up Harry's inability to age, as well. It took years before Harry revealed the information. Akai, with his devout worship of Harry, believed and soaked up every word. It was like gold to him. It was priceless.

They trained, and worked to rid the world of anything dirty and evil. Akai adopted the notion that anything Harry disliked was evil and didn't deserve to live. Even when Harry said that the "Mosquitoes were annoying" Akai made it his duty to kill every single one of the insects he saw.

With all of the training and power, Akai became known to the world as a savior. He helped everybody and tried to protect all life that wasn't forfeit, like the mosquitoes. Everybody adored him, while Harry preferred to stay in the background. Harry was content being "the person that was with the hero". He actually loved it.

Akai knew that Harry didn't have to eat to survive, because he was immortal. Wanting to prove that he, himself, was immortal and able to impress Harry forever, Akai stopped eating for several weeks. It didn't work. As the weeks went by, Akai began to feel hungry and tired. He began to whither and bones would show as he became very pale. Harry would try to get him to eat, having proven that Akai wasn't immortal, only able to live indefinitely, but Akai was stubborn and would always try to rationalize that it was a 'phase'. He only started eating when he found that he could no longer use his abilities.

In terms of abilities, he found that he had limited control over life, death, and certain magical qualities. He was able to use a deadly form of legilimency which, when the soul was absorbed into his body, it would assimilate all of the person's knowledge. He could rip out souls using a similar effect of the resurrection stone, only in a very creative way, and send them straight to hell. Resurrecting the newly dead wasn't out of his reach, either, as well as making a barrier similar to the invisibility cloak. The barrier didn't make him invisible, but instead nullified all other energy that may harm him. He inherited the power to control and manipulate gravity, as well as all of the other elements instead of the core five (while the animals could only use the core five). The most surprising thing, though, was he was able to briefly summon the death of souls under his control. They boy was very powerful, to say the least. He was considered a god.

Sometime in their journeys, Akai brought up an important point that would change the world.

"There's so much evil. How can we get rid of it all by ourselves?" he asked.

"We can't. It's simply impossible to get rid of war and blood. All we can do is hope other people use our example and try to make a better world themselves."

Akai looked at Harry in slight sadness. "But, they don't fight for themselves. Nobody does anything to make a better world. They all wait until we come along to fight for them."

"Then, it is their fault for not fighting for what is right. If they don't want to make a perfect world, then let them live in their imperfect world."

"But, I want a perfect world. If it's impossible to make one by ourselves, then we need others to help."

Harry thought for a minute, then shook his head. "Why do you want a perfect world? Everybody is entitled to their mistakes. Nothing is truly perfect. You're allowed to strive to be as close as you can be to perfection, but nothing is truly perfect."

"I'll find a way. I'll be sure to make a perfect world for everybody. I'll make you proud of me."

"I'm already proud of you, Akai. You've done so much. You've done too much. Don't you ever think that sometimes you could take a break and let the people choose their own destiny?"

"NO!" Akai yelled. "If they choose their own paths, then they will lead this world to ruin. They'll destroy everything we've worked towards. They'll ruin everything you've worked towards. I won't let that happen."

Harry sighed. Akai never rested anymore. As soon as he learned that he didn't need to sleep, Akai had done nothing but train and try to change the world. Harry wasn't always there, taking his own breaks, and during those periods, Harry suspected that Akai was doing something. When Harry asked, Akai would respond, "It's a surprise. You'll love it when it's done, though."

"I just think you should take some down-time. You need to enjoy life more. Here, I'll figure something out. I'll find somebody to help in your endeavors."

"Only when you find a way for me to keep helping the world while I relax will I ever give up." Akai cracked a small smile at his poor attempt at a joke.

Harry burst out laughing at the complete failure.

Over the next year, Harry resumed his studies in time and space. He created his own line of runes and symbols that would affect time and space directly. He would call them 'seals' because of their innate ability to seal time and space into a simple piece of paper. It made extremely easy transportation of larger items. Making complex arrangements, he was even able to transport living things across dimensional space. That was what he was hoping for.

Using this idea, he created a piece of paper covered in seals that would work like a magical oath. Everything written on the paper would be trapped and forced upon the signed contract user. It would be a binding oath between users.

Harry made a countless number of them, one for each of the animals. That would allow Akai to summon the animals to work for him via a seal placed on the scroll under his signature. It would allow Akai to finally rest like he should have from the beginning. It was impossible to make a perfect world, but the man was trying anyways. It was a fool's errand, even if it was a noble one. Akai really did deserve a rest.

Over the next two years, every animal signed the contracts. Harry was able to get the signed contracts to Akai, and the man was eternally happy for them. But, that didn't make time for him. If anything, Akai only worked harder. Akai would push himself past everything. When asked to learn seals, Harry agreed and began to teach seals to the boy. It all ran smoothly. Harry was disappointed with the lack of contact with other people, but Akai would help people and be gone, ready to train more and more.

The animals were getting tired, too. Some began to cancel the contracts, leaving them with Akai, who had recently become known as the 'Sage of Six Paths', to be given to somebody worthy of their time. Possibly his children. Soon, enough animals had canceled that Akai had to find a way to generate enough man-power to keep the world a peace. Somehow he was able to create animals himself after a decade of research into his abilities.

Harry was curious as to how Akai kept making more animals when there shouldn't have been that many to help. One day, Harry looked at the animals through his great eyes and saw something that shocked him to the core.

The animals were pieces of the man's soul made corporeal.

Harry immediately confronted Akai about it. It was dangerous to mess with a person's soul, but to separate pieces of your own was outright suicide.

"Those animals. They're part of you!"

"Yes," was Akai's simple answer. The boy had become very stoic in most cases. It had been a hundred and fifty years since they met.

"It's dangerous to do things like that! It was stupid of you! How many times have I warned you about the manipulation of the soul?"

"Enough. But I had to do this. How else will the world become a better place?"

Harry sighed. "You could have died. Isn't your wish to be with me forever?"

"Yes, but I knew that I would be okay. I calculated the effects on myself. It's actually very useful."

"And what kind of effects would splitting your soul have?"

A small smile made its way to Akai's mouth. "It isn't split permanently. The pieces come back to me. Also, I can see out of each of the pieces' eyes and control their bodies directly, so it's like being in several places at once. It's very useful."

Harry stood there in shock for a full minute. Then, "It's still very stupid." But, he left it at that.

It was another fifty years before tragedy struck. Harry had stopped following the Sage of Six Paths around everywhere, but would go and visit him often enough. Every time they met, Harry would argue that Akai wasn't resting enough while Akai would say that the world was too corrupt to be resting. "Hari, your dream of perfection must be completed. I will not rest until that happens."

"But that's it. It's only a dream, and it can't be made a reality. Just leave it."

When they met those fifty years later, though, Harry saw the man in the center of a runic circle. The man gave a wide smile to Harry before the circle activated and Akai was engulfed in silver light. It shown brilliantly for a full minute before changing into a sickly purple. That's when Harry realized that something was wrong.

Harry ran forwards into the circle that reeked of death and pushed Akai out of the middle. The man looked very disheveled and frantic.

"Dammit! I was so close. Why didn't it work!?"

Harry quieted the man with a punch to the jaw. "What the hell were you thinking this time? I know you want to impress me, but you should let me check the runic array first, before you go and almost kill yourself!"

Akai stared at Harry, who was dusting himself off and preparing to sit in a conjured chair. Akai decided to do the same.

"I was almost immortal. All I want is to be with you, forever. I thought that if I could figure out a way to make myself immortal, then you would be proud of me eternally."

"But you aren't meant to be immortal. People aren't meant to live forever."

Akai glared –yes, glared- at Harry. "What makes you so special, then? Why do you get to live forever?"

"I-" Harry honestly couldn't answer that.

"I'll find a way. I'll live for the rest of eternity by your side. I promise-" he was cut off by a coughing fit.

Harry rushed over to check on Akai, hoping the man was okay. He wasn't.

The simple coughing evolved into hacks and wheezes. It happened for five full minutes while Harry tried to find out what was wrong. The results were terrifying.

"Akai! Y-you're dying. That ritual almost doubled your power, but your body can't handle it. It's rejecting it and killing you. If I had some time to study…"

Akai threw the hand that was reaching for him away, and stood up. "NO! I'm done with asking you for help. I'll figure this out myself. I swear I'll find a way."

Akai left, and when Harry tried to sense his energy signature, there was nothing. Harry wept for the man. He cried for many days, and tried to drink himself to sleep every night. Nothing could make the pain go away. He couldn't do anything while the man he considered a son was dying. It felt like the world was dying. Harry honestly felt his heart break for the first time in fifteen hundred years. It was devastating.

It was one day, when Harry was in a bar crying, that he was approached by a woman about twenty-five years old. She was sweet, and talked to Harry for a bit. It was nice and consoling to the man. It helped greatly for his continued sanity.

It was partway through the conversation that she introduced herself. "I can't believe that I forgot to do that!" she chastised herself. "My name is Kurenai Senchiha. It's a pleasure to meet you."

Harry looked at her. She was very beautiful, with thick black hair and red eyes. Her eyes glowed with an unimaginable amount of care and youth. Her spirit would never get old. "I'm… Hari. I don't have a last name."

"That's too bad. Are you an orphan? I heard they had terrible lives."

"My life wasn't that bad, actually. I grew up early, but I had friends to help me." Harry smiled a bit, thinking of his childhood friends Hermione and Ron. "But they're dead now."

"Is that why you're crying? Are you mourning the deaths of those you care for?"

"No. I had long since gotten over their deaths. It's another one of my friends. He's dying, and I can't do anything about it. He won't let me."

"That's terrible! Why didn't you stop him from leaving?"

"…Because it's his life. I will not control it."

The two settled for a beautiful silence. They simply stared at either each other or the glasses of beer in front of them. When the bar closed, Harry stayed with Kurenai for the night. It evolved into a relationship, and the two found love in each other. It was three years later that tragedy found its way to Harry's doorstep once again. Kurenai was pregnant with twins, and the tragedy came in the form of a sickly looking Akai. I think I've said "the world will never be the same again" enough times for you to get the point. But, the world will never be the same.

* * *

One last time I would like to remind you to post your thoughts on what you think of this story, and give REASONS if you don't like it. I want to know about everything I can improve. Plot holes are also something I would like pointed out. I still need the reborn part. I only have one submission for Hashirama's son, but that's all. I would like to hear your creative ideas, also. And I like to have a variety of choices to choose from.

PM me for omakes or ideas for omakes that any of you might have. I have no talent for Japanese, so if I try and use a Japanese word and completely fail, you're allowed to make fun of me. I'm more of the Korean kind of guy.

Benedark signing off. (I need to think of a catchphrase. Any ideas for that I'll look at, too.)


	4. Nothing Else Matters

I wanted to get this chapter out as fast as I could, so I didn't have much time to put in any comedy or crack moments. Sorry about that. The next chapter will finish up the introduction and get into the actual story. Lastly, I suck at fight scenes, so any input at all would be marvelous, and if anybody has any extra time, I would appreciate it if you would rewrite it and send it to me in a few PMs. Or PM me your email address and I'll send you a message so you can email me the documents.

Thanks, and on to the story.

* * *

"How are you feeling?" Harry asked.

"Like shit. I've been working on a way to help myself. I think I've finally found it, but I want you there, too."

Harry sat down on the chair across from what could only be Akai. The only recognizable feature on him was his eyes. The eyes were just as shiny and full of life as they were three years prior. The rest of him, though, was in ruins.

The skin on his arms and legs was peeling off. Soft glowing pushed out from underneath as a tribute to how much power the man held. Blood constantly flowed out from the bandages wrapped around his arms and legs, though. The cuts looked ingrained in the skin, left to never heal.

His face was cracked and sunken. Pieces of bone had broken out where the skull had weakened enough. The skin itself was blackened from the overload of power, searing the would-be cuts shut and preventing blood from flowing freely. Most of the skin around his mouth, though, had fallen away, leaving a skull-like visage. It was a horrifying sight.

"Then what are we waiting for? If we can save you, the sooner the better… right?" Harry asked.

"Just… let's talk. I can't remember the last time we simply talked."

"Alright… but why? We can talk later, after you're saved."

"…" Akai was silent as he bowed his head down slightly.

"No. NO! I won't let you kill yourself! You'll survive. You'll be fine."

"No. Let's just talk. Everything'll work itself out. Don't worry." Akai gave a small smile, eyes closed in a sad-yet-serene way.

"But you'll die! I can't let that happen!"

"Why are you so worried that I'll die? Can't you just visit me later on?"

"Death isn't like that. I can visit you, yes, but death is outside of tangible existence. Those that are there can't do anything except wait for themselves to be recreated into something new. It's like the theory of eternal sleep, except instead of sleeping you simply aren't. Forever. I couldn't live with it if that happened to you."

"Can't you just resurrect me, then?" Akai seemed interested. Like he was fishing for information.

"I can't resurrect you. I can only create a memory of what you once were and give life to it. It isn't the same. Please. Don't do this!"

"I see you made a family for yourself. Are you expecting any kids?"

Harry grabbed Akai's head and forced the man to look into his eyes. "Take this seriously! This is your life that we're talking about! And… ewww. You're face is nasty, man."

Akai sighed. "I'll survive. The runic array is meant for me, yes. I just wanted to talk." A smile was sent Harry's way.

Harry let out a breath, almost satisfied but still rushed. "Can we just go? We can discuss this later."

"Just tell me, are you expecting children?"

"Yes, dammit! Now let's go!"

Akai suddenly looked very guilty. Harry was too focused on the man's health to take any notice, though. "Dammit, man. Just… let's go."

"Yes!" Harry yelled with exasperation. It was done! "Let me put my wife in bed before anything else, though. It'll take only a minute."

Harry picked up Kurenai, who had fallen unconscious after seeing the skull-like face of Akai, and carried her past the stairs and into a room on the left. He came back out a second later with a smile, and followed Akai out the door.

He was led just outside of the town, where a massive what looked like a sealing array stood. It was painted in red, and glowed an eerie silver, not unlike Harry's arrays. The entire thing spanned half a kilometer, making Harry briefly wonder how it was missed before. It was a work of art. It was the biggest array he had ever seen. Harry could only marvel at the complexity of the entire thing, staring at it in an awe-filled trance. He was snapped out of it by Akai.

"This is my masterpiece. This is what I have been working on since I left. This is what will save me."

Harry could only nod. It was beautiful.

"Would you do the honors and check the runic arrays? I want to know if this is perfect. This has to work."

Harry nodded again. "Yeah. Sure…"

Harry began to inspect the entire thing, piece by piece. Every time he got to another part, though, he became slightly more nervous. It wasn't looking at all like an array meant to save somebody from the brink of death. It looked like a sealing array meant for trapping something immensely powerful.

Having learned from his past mistakes, he jumped away from the circle as soon as it activated. What happened next, though, was completely unexpected. Another array, even larger than the previous one, sprang into existence. Harry was so surprised that his illusion dropped. Akai drew a sharp breath.

"W-what are you? Are you actually a demon… or a god? Did I actually trap a GOD!?" Akai's eyes opened very wide in excitement. "Now we can be together forever! I'll take your immortality and you'll live inside of me! Aren't you proud of me for making this!?"

The world started spinning for Harry. He couldn't believe that this was what Akai was doing. All he knew was that the man had to be stopped before something really bad happened. This wasn't meant to happen.

But then what was meant to happen? It wasn't his place to decide the fate of people, was it? He said it himself. He wouldn't control other people's destinies. But this was one moment where he would have to eradicate something before it became a virus. The world would never know, and would never have to know. This was one battle that would have to be fought, whether he liked it or not.

Harry shifted into his ten-tailed animagus form, but that didn't break the hold the seal had on him. How could Harry get away? He thought. Akai was finishing the hand seals that would seal Harry's fate. The moment of truth was approaching fast and Harry had nowhere to go. But- that's it! He could warp space around him to move away from the circle!

Just as the ritual was reaching its climax, a vortex swallowed Harry's form and spat him out on the other side of the village. Harry briefly paused at the sound of screaming, but didn't stand still for long. He had a man to stop.

Jumping over to Akai, he stopped right in front of him. Harry's single hulking eye glared at the man. "Why? Why did you have to do this? Just stop now and come back to me."

"Why aren't you proud of me? I found a way to finally be together with you forever. Why won't you take it!?" Akai was seething, yet crying. He was torn.

"This isn't about making a perfect world anymore! Forget my dreams and focus on your own! We'll heal you somehow. Just stop this!" Harry was frantic.

"My dream is to fulfill your dreams! I won't stop until that happens, even if it means silencing you!"

"Shut up and listen to yourself! You're crazy!"

Akai wasn't having it. With one hand raised, he let a meteor fall from the sky. Harry only saw it at the last minute, and moved away as far as he could. The battlefield had become a crater. Luckily the town was spared. "I'm not crazy! I'm doing what I must for you! I'll beat you up until you see the truth. Even if it kills me!"

"Fine. We'll fight. I won't let you hurt any people, though, so let's take it away from here."

With a determined nod, Akai moved away from the town and into a massive clearing with nothing around. Harry followed. As soon as he appeared in the clearing, though, a massive corporeal construct of energy formed around Akai. It was a mixture of red and black, having a torn black cloak flowing around its frame and red bones making a body to hold it up. The skull looked frighteningly like Akai's head. The entire thing held a scythe in its right hand and an hourglass in its left.

"What the hell is that thing…"

"This is something I came up with, all on my own. I call it Susano'o. It's able to take on a form of its own, and magnifies my power by thousands. If I could estimate its power, I would say it almost rivals yours."

"But you've never seen my power. You've never seen the full extent of it, at least."

Akai simply smiled in a knowing way.

Harry got ready for anything. His body flexed in preparation, and his mind was working on a way to bring the other man down without killing him. There had to be some way. Harry couldn't kill the man he raised.

Akai started off by hurling another meteor at Harry, forcing the beast to charge forwards and make an attempt to hit Akai with his speed. He didn't expect the giant construct to backhand him right back to where the meteor landed. The thing… Susano'o… it was fast. Really fast. And strong, too. How was Akai able to make something like that?

Harry would have analyzed further, but he jumped back to dodge the scythe swinging straight for him. "Everybody that's seen my Susano'o has died. Be wary. Anything this blade touches dies."

To prove the point, the grass around the blade began to decay incredibly fast and the dirt erode until there was a chasm in the ground. It was only then that the thing raised the blade.

Harry rushed in to try and hit the thing, but as soon as he got close, the thing turned the minute glass. Everything warped, and Harry found himself at the other side of the clearing. The grains of sand falling down once the giant turned the hourglass once more. But… what happened the first time it turned over? Harry couldn't think long enough because he had to jump around the scythe again.

This time, though, when Harry went to attack, the thing didn't do anything. It was just letting the sand fall back to the top. Harry was able to ram right into the side of the thing, and to his immense surprise, the thing fell over. Then, it got up like nothing happened. It had a single scratch on its side.

The thing turned the now-full hourglass over, and when the world warped, he found himself without his front-right leg. It regrew fast enough, but it was still very painful. Akai watched on in some amusement. Harry scowled.

"You'll never beat me when I've got time on my side. It's pointless. Just listen to reason and stay with me. We could accomplish so much! Please!"

Harry turned just in time to see the scythe come at him again, letting him dodge. This time, though, he ran past the Susano'o and went straight for Akai, only for the same warp to happen and find himself missing his head- which quickly regrew.

"You may be able to do this forever, but I can, too. The construct takes absolutely no extra energy from me besides the energy it takes to create it. It's self-sustaining!"

Harry wanted to curse so badly, but it was not the time for such… pleasantries. He had to figure out how to win the fight before there were any casualties. Dodging some more scythe swings and having limbs miraculously cut off, he thought about that statement. The one about time.

It looked like Harry was teleporting from his view. But that wasn't what was happening, because if it was, then how was he getting hurt? It had something to do with time, like the thing was stopping time all on its own. Maybe that's what the hourglass was for! If he was able to knock the hourglass away from that thing, then it wouldn't be able to stop him.

Harry pretended to dodge the next scythe swipe, but then moved back in front of it, letting it impale his shoulder. From there, he used his front right paw-hand (because they had opposable thumbs for some reason) to grab at the hourglass. His hand connected and wrapped around, but when he yanked, the entire construct fell over with him. It was like the thing was glued to Susano'o.

"You think you can simply take the Orminai of Time away from Susano'o? It's part of it! See? You'll never win!"

At this point, Akai was lying on his back a ways away from the field, watching in some fascination. It was like the man wasn't even taking it seriously!

While the thing was getting back up, Harry tried to rush Akai once more, only for time to warp again. Harry was baffled. Now what could he do to win? It was like the thing was unbeatable. Every time he would try something, the Susano'o would turn that hourglass and another limb would be gone. What was the thing's weakness… unless… Susano'o had to let the sand refill every time! That was it!

Harry went for Akai once again, and watched as time was taken from him. This time his torso was bisected, a painful thing if Harry was honest. It regrew in time for him to make one frontal assault towards Akai. Harry ran forwards and began to thrust his hand at the startled man, faster than Akai could see. But… Harry couldn't do it. The man was a son to him. He simply couldn't kill the man he raised. Instead, Harry's gigantic fist hit Akai over and through a tree, letting the younger man smash into the ground before Harry left into the horizon.

Because, who could simply turn and kill their own son? What kind of monster would he be degraded to if he went through with the kill? Was it for the sake of the planet? Who the fuck cared about the planet? There were other worlds. The people would be reborn someday into another body. But, they would be different. If Akai died, he would never be the same person. Nothing would ever be the same. Screw the planet. Screw everything! Harry would make sure Akai lived, and find a way to cure the man of his insanity.

So Harry wandered, away from where Akai was. He thought through every single possibility open, wanting to know what would save the man. Everything came back to either taking his power away or somehow giving true immortality to him. The only way to do the second was for Harry to become one with Akai, like the man was saying. There was great truth to his words. It was disheartening, but true.

Harry only stopped running when he could no longer sense the abomination known as Susano'o. He estimated it to be around 150 kilometers, but it wasn't that bad when it was physically impossible to tire out anymore. Only then did he attempt to get out of his transformation.

Only, nothing happened. Well, nothing would be what Harry would use. Anybody else would scream and fall to the ground in agony, but only excruciating pain would do anything to Harry anymore. Instead, Harry began to panic.

By the end, Harry had tried to change about forty times, each one without success. He was breathing hard from nervousness, and sweating slightly. He had no idea what to do. There was nothing to be done. Maybe he could go to the summon world and research something. Maybe that would work.

Harry focused his power into teleportation and thought about where he wanted to go. Space started to distort, and with it, Harry's body. But, then, Harry began to feel pain similar to when he tried to transform. Maybe the two were linked? Harry tried some of his magic.

His magic worked perfectly. When he attempted to use his physical energy in conjunction with the magic, that worked perfectly, too. Everything was perfect except his ability to manipulate space. It didn't make any sense. But, maybe it did.

If that second seal that appeared after the first was meant to do more than seal him in place, it would have remained incomplete. If it was a conduit to generate enough power to seal him into Akai, though, it would have been mostly complete. The double seal couldn't seal him completely, so instead of putting him into Akai, it pulled him onto the physical plain and kept him there. In other words, Harry was stuck as a giant 4 kilometer high wolf with nowhere to go.

Sighing, Harry simply went for lying down and falling asleep. It wouldn't do to get overly dramatic about one little hiccup.

The next morning, Harry woke up to the sight of a group of people staring at him. When his eye opened, they jumped back, some running while others stayed, taking to hiding behind the rocks next to the mountain he was lying up against. The whole thing was a bit funny in Harry's opinion. It was interesting watching the tiny people trying to decide what to do with him- leave the beast be or poke it with a stick. Harry would have vouched for the poking, simply because it would be fun.

Getting slightly bored at the inactivity, he stood up on his four legs and walked away, letting the people marvel at his giant stature before running away themselves at his mere glance. Soon everybody was gone, leaving Harry to himself. He sat himself down, watching the rising sun, to think about his new situation.

The first question was "what would he do?" That was simple: figure out how to break the soul seal that tethered him to this specific dimension. Then came the complicated question. How?

He was a master of seals and runes, so it wouldn't be too hard to find a way to accomplish it. The problem came in the form of his hands being too big for any sort of writing utensil. And even if there was a writing utensil big enough, he would have to find a way to free his soul safely after writing the array and stand in the middle of the array while it activates. If that wasn't impossible, then he also needed at least a year to prepare all of the above mentioned things and the ability to safely go through the ritual without finding himself in the form of his immortal soul forever. That would be boring.

Harry always walked when he wanted to think. He turned and followed the base of the mountain. He would hop over the occasionally hill and watch the occasional mortal scurry away somewhat like that rat… what was his name? It didn't matter. He'll just call him Worm.

As he walked, it suddenly dawned on him. Akai was obsessed with immortality. And it was his fault. If only Harry had been angrier and tried to get back to his own dimension, or simply left Akai and walked away, then the boy would have been at peace. But, now Akai had such a fanatical devotion to him that he wants to be with him forever. Akai would go to any length to make Harry's wishes come true, even if Harry told him not to. To Akai, Harry was perfect. It was only reasonable that everybody else be perfect, too.

This realization was what broke the theoretical camel's back. The realization that there was nothing that could be done for Akai, the son of Harry Potter. It devastated the immortal god. The pain struck deep and shattered Harry's heart. The entire world broke around him. And with sadness came the inevitable anger.

It was all his fault.

"It was all my fault." It was a whisper in the air. Some smoke broke away with the words. It broke away with the world.

"Damn it!" he thundered. Power lashed away from him. An earthquake broke the mountain in half. Harry sensed several people get crushed underneath the falling death.

Then, it began to rain darkness. Shadows engulfed the world, responding to the god's rage. The earth broke apart and molten rock filled the crust. Black lightning struck the earth, just visible through the surrounding shroud. Harry's form was just a shadow in the coming storm. His eye pierced the darkness with a vengeful glare. The commas spun for the first time. His eyes truly formed across the world as space and time broke like cracked glass. Thus was the power of creation and destruction.

People across the planet hid in their homes, preparing for certain death. The feeling of impending doom lingered, killing small animals and rotting life itself. It cracked its very essence, what created and breathed meaning. And the sky only got blacker. It only got thicker.

Harry roared and thrashed, destroying everything. The dead began to rise on their own, unable to rest in eternal sleep. The eternal rest broken, they slaved to find another meaning. When meaning broke, they simply obeyed the will of their master. They destroyed. They tore the world asunder and mutilated each other in some form of amusement. Thus was the possibility to truly control death made possible.

Soon, a town was within Harry's sight. He didn't care about lives. He only cared about Akai. Nothing else mattered. The town was quickly swallowed in the ethereal vortex of time, destroyed as it decayed in peace. That was true peace. The peace of destruction.

Soon, another village was broken and nothing was left but the skeletons, decaying from an eternity of nothing. And another. And another. Harry made sure to avoid the hometown of Kurenai, but nothing else was left standing. The rest of existence in that dimension was simply… gone. It was like it just ceased to exist. The earth was turned black and left spinning to oblivion. It was then that Harry came to a mountain, blackened by the flames of god, that Harry saw a single figure standing on the peak.

It wore a cloak with archaic runes circling the base and speared circles making a design on the rest. A necklace of hope hung around its neck. A hood covered its head, shadowing its face. Black boots and gloves covered the remaining skin. Harry knew instinctively that it was Akai. The man was certainly almost dead.

Harry could only stare at the cause of his grief with a saddened gaze. His head lowered and a great tear fell from the giant eye of the Juubi. The world meant nothing at that point. There was no way to see his newborn children, there was no way to live with his beautiful wife, and there was no way save Akai from himself. Everything was moot. If Harry could die, he would.

"Hari. Why do you fight the pathetic world? What's the point? They're nothing to you. There can't be peace if there is no life. Let me deal with them." Akai seemed so kind even then. He still spoke with a soft voice and a light heart.

"I fight because there's nothing else. There's nothing for me left. Can't you see that?"

Akai nodded. "I'm still here. If you just come with me, then we can both be the saviors of the world. The world and your dreams are still left for you."

Harry looked at Akai. The man spoke with such wisdom that one would not realize he was mentally unstable. "You're wrong. The world means nothing to me. I don't care anymore. The person I loved is gone. There's nothing for me."

Akai seemed to be physically wounded. "You don't care about me anymore…? No. You're just not thinking right. I'll show you that I'm the same person you have always cared about!" He jumped forwards and tried to punch Harry. Harry moved to the side, dodging the punch and pushing for a punch, himself.

Akai was small enough to move away from the giant fist with some ease. He was forced to move back, though, when a black lightning bolt struck his previous spot. This was followed by more lightning and, surprisingly, fire. Black fire that lined the atmosphere and looked like shadows.

Akai tried to get some shots in, himself, but was forced back each time by some sort of shield that surrounded Harry. It didn't take long before the dead joined the fray.

Akai went almost totally on the defense then, because he had to dodge the surprisingly accurate throws of the zombies at the same time as focusing on Harry. Fireballs blew from Harry's mouth and lightning crashed from the sky. Tsunamis appeared from seemingly thin air to try and drown everybody and solidified into ice whenever something was touched. Lava spat forth from the earth. The earth itself fought, jutting spears and mountains out of the ground and sprouting trees with venomous flowers to paralyze Akai. None of it went for murder, though.

There was one pause, though. A woman rushed out onto the field. She had black hair and red eyes. Harry recognized her immediately. It was Kurenai.

Harry was shocked, and couldn't move. Kurenai moved to where Akai was, and wrapped her arms around the man. She seemed to be crying. Harry heard her mumble sorrows about what the man had to do. Then, she lowered the man's hood and told him "Please. Don't do this. I don't know what I'd do if you were to die." And she kissed him.

Harry couldn't do anything but watch. He kneeled down and wept like he had for Akai. He fell to the ground and tears fell, making new ponds and seas. Akai used this chance to manipulate the energy in his veins, doing hand motions and chanting. Harry opened his eyes, watching with awe at what his student was able to accomplish. He watched in awe and slight fear for what this could mean. Had his student accomplished his quest of sealing Harry? Had the insanity run so far as to control fate and usurp temporary godhood? Did the man, Akai, actually break reality?

Yes. Yes he did.

* * *

Once again, I will ask you to put in your submissions for who Harry will be reborn as. There's only one chapter left to choose, and I hope to have a list to choose from. I prefer completely unorthodox choices, and would appreciate the choice being either an Uchiha or a Senju, but it doesn't have to be if you have a very good idea.

I would like to thank those people who have sent future scenes to me, and I will try to incorporate all of your ideas into the story in some way. I would love some ideas for comedy relief that aren't completely crack, and one-liners for certain characters would be used with gusto.

Lastly, if nothing else, click that follow button so you know what happens next, and review. I would really like to know how people liked my stuff. I would also really like to know what people think I can do better at, other than fight scenes (I already know that) and give me some tips on making a better story. If there are any flames, then I want a good reason for them. Or you will be added to my shit list.

Benedark (I still need a catchphrase) out.


	5. To Be, or Not To Be

So, the final piece of the introduction is out of the way. You could even call it the first arc because it spanned over twenty thousand words. It is the prologue to destroy all prologues! Be amazed! Be afraid! Be completely ready for the true story to start!

All submissions for characters has closed, and I have chosen. It's a surprise, so don't ask. I gave subtle hints, and if anybody guesses it in a review, they'll get a nice little cyber cookie and an OC showing in Akatsuki. Create your own character, give it a name, give it abilities, etcetera. Oh, and another hint: Harry will be reborn as another OC. Just guess one or both of the parents and the first guess gets the prize.

* * *

An introduction in the middle of the story:

Everything has a price. To have power comes with the price of corruption. To do good comes with the price of time and effort. The price of life is death. The greater the achievement, the greater the cost. The price of everything… is nothing.

Standing in front of Harry was an ethereal being, floating off the ground about twenty feet and carrying an enormous blade in between its teeth. It wore a white shroud with black patterns flowing across it elegantly, covering its entirety. White hair, matching equally white razor-sharp teeth, floated atop its head in random patterns. Clawed hands with deathly purple skin finished the great form.

It was the final death. It was the end of all matter and life. It was creation and destruction. It was the embodiment of Harry's full power over death. It was the deathly hallows given form, and only Harry had ever seen the power. He had seen it one time, and that was when he fought Jashin when the death tried to bisect him. Harry didn't have a pleasant experience, but Jashin was the one that couldn't regenerate his arms for six years.

The thing that scared Harry, though, was the pained look that the god had in its eyes. It began to writhe and scream, sending shockwaves through the earth. The dead all fell back to their eternal slumber and the darkness ebbed away to reveal the sight to all who would watch. There was nobody.

Then chains started to materialize on the specter of death incarnate, wrapping around the pained entity that was being torn away from its owner. Steam rose from the binding, and black seals rose around its skin. Then its eyes turned from Harry's black into the purple-silver rings that made up Akai's eyes. Akai could control death.

After several minutes of struggling, the entity seemed to calm down. Its face set into a calm expression, but its eyes looked troubled. The chains melted into its skin, becoming tattoos which stood out against its natural purple. It looked vile.

Akai watched with glee when the thing calmed down. He stood tall and happy, ready to control what shouldn't be possible to control. He raised his gloved hand and moved it in the direction of Harry Potter, giving a smirk when the deathly entity turned to glare at Akai.

Suddenly, Akai rushed forwards in a frenzy, running at insane speeds that only Harry would be able to keep up with, let alone see. Harry stood up as fast as he could, trying to jump out of the way, but it simply wasn't fast enough. Akai grabbed Harry's face, having to jump to get there, and held on. The ghostly entity looked to the ground in defeat.

Just as the specter looked down, its hand shot forwards and grabbed Harry, and pulled. It felt like Harry's entire being was being condensed and ripped apart. Looking backwards, that wasn't far from what was happening.

Harry saw his body in the distance, lying on the ground. It seemed to still have life, but no consciousness. The entire body thrashed around on the ground, destroying everything around it. What happened next destroyed any hope Harry had left for Akai.

The soulless husk thrashed, and right next to it, trying to run away, was Kurenai. One unlucky beat of a tail crushed her entirely. Blood splattered across the earth, putting a red stain on the perfect black. The tail kept thrashing in a rage, scattering the bones and spreading streams of blood everywhere.

Harry screamed. His eye closed and he screamed to the heavens. The world slowed down, pausing for a moment of honor for the lost soul. One of the only things that ever mattered to Harry after his ascension. Harry's love for Akai broke with that one act. Harry swore to have vengeance. He would not get the chance. Not for a very, very long time.

So, in an effort to quell his anger, he thrashed. He tried to break free from his own power and destroy Akai. He tried to pummel the earth to oblivion. He tried to do anything. Nothing worked. Nothing did anything. Harry was helpless against the power of death which he owned. Akai was the god right then.

It was only a matter of minutes before Harry's entire being disappeared for a second before reappearing on a circular platform with stairs leading in every direction into blackness. Chains sprouted from the ground, chaining Harry down and preventing him from moving. The entire sealing sequence was a masterpiece. It was true perfection as far as seals went. Akai completely cut Harry off from everything. Harry couldn't even move without receiving pain unlike anything he ever felt before. Harry was a prisoner to the prisons of fate and power. He was nothing.

Outside of the seal, Akai looked saddened by the loss of Kurenai, but instead of mourning her, he simply turned his head to the giant hulking body that was left. After a single moment of contemplation, he used his power over gravity and launched the ten tailed beast into the atmosphere, enclosing it inside of the moon. It fit well, and kept it from destroying anything else. It would work as a prison.

With that done, he left to the only living settlement left. He walked into Kurenai's house and found two infants in cribs. He smiled. He was sure Harry would want him to take care of his children, the only perfect beings in the world other than himself. Akai sat down and watched the toddlers with a faint smile gracing his lips.

"Yes. This is true peace."

A few years went by and Akai looked like a normal human being again. His whole body healed and able to finally hold the awesome power it was granted, he set out to find out what he could do after his sealing of Harry.

What he found shocked and amazed him to his very soul.

He could create, destroy, and change all matter and life into anything he desired. He had enough power to not have to care about the awesome power usage, so he set out to rebuild the world. He put the world back together, but left out human life. He wanted the world to rebuild anew, and not simply be created and left to themselves. The world was bathed in the energy- chakra, as he decided to call it- and became a part of chakra. It became so powerful that there was ambient energy flowing through the very air. It was amazing what a god's power could truly do.

It didn't take long for the planet to be thriving once again. And with it, the people. The people began to spread out after the first few years, building what they could to make new homes for the rising population. They had taken it upon themselves (at the convincing of their savior) to repopulate the world. The man was a god in their eyes. He could do anything.

Harry's two children, named Dai for power and greatness, and Akihiro for brightness and love, grew up their own way. Dai was always serious, being the first born, and though he loved his brother and 'father,' he showed it by only doing his best and trying to be better than anyone else. Akihiro was always relaxed, but strong in his own right. He loved everybody and always showed it. He may have been a bit naïve, but he always meant well.

Dai was always more powerful. At the age of five, his eyes turned from their odd charcoal black to red. At the age of seven, they gained the shape of an eight pointed star, which spun rapidly. At the age of ten, they morphed into the eyes that Akai harbored. He could somehow copy any technique that Akai would use, regardless of how tough or powerful it was. His strength was through the roof, capable of doing anything but match Akai. Akai was practically a god. Nobody could match him.

Akihiro became enthralled with plants. He cared and nurtured them to perfection. It was later discovered that he could control life just as the other could control death. Aki could heal anybody, and had a healing factor that rivaled Harry's own. He could create deadly poisons and life-giving panaceas. He might have not been all that strong, but he could heal the world.

More time had passed, and while Dai had stopped aging like Akai, Aki had only slowed down his aging greatly. Aki didn't care. All he cared about was living life to its fullest, and enjoying the time he had. Dai didn't want that, and spent years looking for some sort of cure to mortality. He failed at every turn.

Dai actually got into several arguments with Aki about Aki's mortality. Dai would argue that Aki deserved to live forever. He said Aki needed to save the world, because sheer power couldn't save one man. Dai thought that it was Aki that should have had immortality instead of himself.

Aki would counter, saying that Dai deserved the power. He said that Dai would find some way to carry on their father's wishes of peace. They both thought Akai was their father for obvious reasons, but they both knew that Akai wouldn't be around for much longer.

Akai (being the oblivious idiot that he was) learned of his new mortality decades later than his children. He found that the more he used the power that was Harry's, the faster he would age and the slower he would regenerate. After healing the world, he predicted he had only several decades of life left. When he learned of that, he became enraged.

He threw a fit, turning a new grassland into an ugly desert. He flooded it, and drained it, and threw waves of chaos onto it, crushing the landscape into dust. When all of his anger was gone, there was only an expanse of sand in his wake.

That day, the two children of Harry noticed a difference in their father. The man angered easily, and became obsessed with sealing once again. He would lock himself in their mansion's office for days, and sometimes weeks. He would often snap at Dai and Aki for the simplest things. Peace was a lost hope for the man, only seeking solace in his own immortality. The man showed his true insanity, but his sons were too enthralled by his power to notice anything.

For every snap at them, they would be saddened because they upset their god. For every day they didn't see him, they thought they weren't good enough anymore. Every scathing look sent them to tears. How could the leader of peace hate them so?

And then the day had come. Akai had become old and gray, withering like an old tree ready for its time to come. As much as Akai had fought, nothing could part him with the everlasting end he would have to go to. It pissed him off to no end. It really pissed him off.

These brats would outlive him! A god!

Akai hated them, but he hated Harry even more. Every time he tried to do something, Harry would stop him. Harry always stopped him! It was all Harry's fault! Harry was no god! He was a devil that Akai was sent to stop! Akai deserved life, and Harry deserved to die!

In one last effort for peace, Akai did something that would tear Harry's family apart. It was time to choose an heir. The heir that would be the next god of peace. The one with the power to control everything. It was always supposed to be Dai, the firstborn and the most powerful. Aki had accepted that, and didn't really even want the position, but Dai always thought that Aki deserved it. Akai spoke the words of truth.

"Dai, you will be my heir. Use that title wisely."

"What? But I told you I don't want it!"

"You are the most powerful" Akai said "And therefore deserve that title."

Then, Akai grinned. He stared into the eyes of Aki, eyes losing their glow. He forced thoughts into Aki's head, breaking the boy's mind. Then, he did the same to Dai. Those thoughts were meant to control the two and force them to hate each other. They believed that they always hated each other. It would continue through their families, making feuds that would tear the world apart. Maybe if he was lucky, they would simply annihilate each other and be done with it.

Then, for the last matter at hand, Akai visited Harry for the first time in fifty years. He could feel the god- no, demon- thrashing and close to breaking free. Akai just had to stop it somehow. And, he knew just the way.

Akai appeared on the steps leading up to the circular dais with the chained beast. He stepped up with a limp, carefully all the same. It would not do to test the strength of the chains so close to such a thing. When the wolf saw him, it glared menacingly at him.

Harry, while glaring at Akai, was thinking about how he was certainly happy that he was able to poison his power with a disease that would slowly kill the man as he used it. It was one of the abilities of his animagus, after all. He just had to use it in a creative way.

It all came down to this moment, where he was almost free and able to stomp on Akai's dead body. Harry smiled slightly in malevolence.

"It's almost time. I'm almost free."

Akai simply smiled benignly. "I don't think so. I'm going to make sure you never have your power back. I'll make you defenseless and unable to do anything. You may be free of me, but you'll also never have your power again!"

Harry growled. "I'd like to see you try before I get free!"

"Are you angry? I'm sure you are." He was mocking him. "But, you simply don't have the time."

Harry struggled even harder when Akai began to chant once again while doing hand seals. Chakra washed over the terrain as one chain broke, shattering and throwing shrapnel across the floor. Soon another chain broke. A slight cut formed on Akai's face from a stray shard. There were two chains left.

The third chain broke and whipped around, knocking Akai off balance. Akai didn't stop chanting and making hand-motions even as he fell. On the ground, Akai finished just as the fourth and final chain broke. Harry felt himself being ripped apart. It tore through him and pulled piece by piece, fragment by fragment, until Harry felt powerless. He was a simple soul.

Harry looked around the circle, staring at the ten figures that appeared around him. Each was a piece of his power, separated from him and making up a small fragment of his true soul. One was the power of death, in the form of the reaper that he had seen twice before. It was the power of the hallows.

Then, there was a nine-tailed fox. It represented his sheer power and his anger. After that was an ox with eight octopus tentacles. It was his happiness and courage. It controlled his power of sight, and the ability to see the world and its truity. Then came a beetle with six wings and a tail, with the power of gravity and flight. It represented compassion and hope. A six tailed slug came next, with the power over reality. It could control the creation and destruction of matter. A dog with five tails controlled his instincts and with them, his animagus powers. It held his ability to shape and form things from anything else. Transfiguration. An ape with four tails could control the elements. A turtle with three tails had his barrier abilities and was impervious to everything but the strongest. A cat with two tails had slight power over death, to stop the hallows from putting them all back together on a whim. It could also control his powers over darkness and light. Lastly, the raccoon thing with one tail had power over insanity and emotions, as well as space and time.

These were all a part of him, and he couldn't get them back without having his hallows. And he couldn't control his hallows without the last piece in the cat. The only way to do that would be to seal the cat within himself like the sage, but to do that he would need a body. The only way to get a body was to free his soul from the tether that kept it on earth. It would take a lot of time, but he had a lot of time. He would do it.

Harry found himself in the outside world only moments later. He saw his children glaring at each other, but they couldn't see him. He looked at Akai, lying on the bed dying. Harry was only really angry that he couldn't kill the bastard himself. He could live with being the way he was now for a while, and he didn't really know his children, so he couldn't feel angry at the man beyond the hatred of taking something precious away, but that was it. There was nothing else. Harry would just go on living like he always did. Nothing more, nothing less. He just felt empty. An emptiness that engulfed his whole being at the thought that this was how he would live forever more.

A second later, the body disappeared from existence with a bright flash, and in its place were the ten beings that made up Harry's power. They, too, disappeared in bright flashes and were gone. They had left to create their own existences.

The world changed slowly. His children changed their last names, not wanting anything to do with each other. One became Dai Uchiha, while the other was Akihiro Senju. They married and had kids. Dai had a son and a daughter. The son kept the Uchiha alive, while the daughter married to a man named Takashi Huuga. The bloodlines kept changing with all of the time and families being put together. On Dai's side, the Nara, Nii, and other such clans became prominent. They all had special abilities that centered around combat with powers that nobody else had.

On the other side of the fence, came the Senju and later, Uzumaki. As time went by, they became mostly elemental bloodlines and bloodlines that allowed for the manipulation of the body directly. This created the Kaguya clan and clans that could control ice, blood, and crystal. Soon, it was so muddled down that everybody had chakra, or at least the capability to use it. Civilians and clans alike. It became a power struggle. Nobody was powerful at all compared to the old days, and most techniques were lost to history.

Dai ended up dying at Akihiro's hands. Akihiro had summoned a poisonous tree that flooded the entire continent with a deadly poison. It wiped out clans capable of summoning the dead and controlling blood. The dragon summoning scroll was burned in an explosion soon after, from a riot.

Akihiro died naturally from old age six hundred years after his birth. It was a sad time, and people mourned greatly.

The world evolved, creating new techniques that were more show than true power. Surprisingly, the more showy ones were more powerful than the older techniques, but the older techniques were so weak that Harry would have thought they were the most incompetent fools he had ever seen if everybody hadn't been doing the same.

But, they also figured out how to create sealing arrays by just using the hand seals and moving chakra into certain places to simulate the ink. It allowed for the summoning of animals without using summoning scrolls directly. The unicorn contract had been burned, and the phoenix one had been lost at sea.

Oh, and the deal with the energy structures that used to be part of Harry were as follows:

Somehow, because of the vast amount of energy that made them up, coupled with ambient energy in the air, they somehow gained a physical form. They didn't have any physical energy, and had to substitute it with the natural energy around them. This meant that they wouldn't be as powerful or have as much potential as before, but they would have a physical form. It allowed contact with the world.

The hallows, though, had taken to watching Harry as he moved around. It always was slightly overprotective. The only reason it couldn't do anything was because its ability to control its power was taken away, and therefore it needed a willing conduit to use its power. The conduit would die from the power of death, and that scared people. They started calling it 'Shinigami' and making a religion around it.

It was a million years later when the chakra constructs began to be called Bijuu, and pretty much the whole world forgot about the existence of Akai and the origins of everything. Over that time, Harry had learned that he could use his ever growing mental energy coupled with the ambient energy in the air to manipulate the world and help people. The idiots started calling him 'Kami' because of all of the random acts of good that remained unexplained. It was actually very funny.

That was exactly how he figured out how to hold a brush and ink so he could create some seals. He experimented, and brushed up on his old talents. He wanted to be perfect when he released his soul from the tether. So, after another thousand years, he designed and built an overly-complex sealing arrangement that would unbind his soul. The problem with that was the moment he unbound his soul, it would go straight to the afterlife where it would stay for eternity (unless he asked a death to create a new body for him, but he didn't want to end up as a baby (He got a foreboding feeling as soon as that thought came up)).

Because of this, he added another complex array to the preexisting array to automatically transport his soul to the relative closest to his own biological structure, at least until he could get his original body back. The closest relative, from his calculations, were a man named Madara Uchiha and a man named Hashirama Senju. They were both possibilities, and he didn't think he would find anybody closer to their original lines, especially after Hashirama got the 'wood release' as they called it, and Madara got the 'rin'negan.'

So, Harry activated the seal, and felt a great weight lift off of him. His whole existence seemed happier and lighter. He could see the world anew. Was the seal sealing more than just his soul to this existence? Or did it do more? It didn't matter. Too much thinking.

Suddenly, Harry felt a pull somewhat like disapp… no, apparit… no. Aw, dammit! He couldn't remember shit from two million years ago! All he remembered was wizard, magic, how to use said magic, Ron (whatever that was) and Hermione (He remembered her nice body during fourth year).

Harry felt like he was getting pulled through a blender and a straw at the same time. It wasn't that painful, because he was used to a lot of pain, but it was very uncomfortable. And dark. Then, everything just stopped, like a car hitting a wall going forty and everything was tied down. And it was still dark. And slightly unnerving.

He felt himself almost floating, but he couldn't move. And he was tired. Very, very tired. On a whim, he turned slightly and passed out.

* * *

Can you guess it? Can you? Can you?

Oh. And I would like to ask you that even if you don't like it now, you might like it later. So, even if you dislike it, you should follow it just so you might see later chapters and maybe get into the story.

And for everybody that follows, I ask that you please review. I would greatly appreciate it if every person that takes a moment out of their lives to follow of favorite (I personally don't care about favorites, it's all about follows for me) could also take a second to write "Good job", "Update soon", or "I don't really like how you... because... and it could be better if..." and even throw some ideas for stuff I can lighten the story up with in. I love seeing people taking an interest in my writing and helping to influence how the story goes.

Benedark out.


	6. The Akai Smile and Fall

I'm sorry. I lied about two chapters. I created this perfect ending for this one and wanted to piss people off. I hope that it's reasonable. Also, I'm going to start chapters off with a sort of intro such as the one right below this author's note. It will be filled with foreshadowing, either about the current chapter, or even further beyond. Keep them in mind. Now, on to the story.

* * *

The usual. A query (for those who don't know what a query is, it is like a philosophical thought of some sort): Just as nobody talked about the Kyuubi attack around Naruto, and nobody discussed the possibility of Konohamaru having a living father, the population was always quiet about Hashirama's son. There was a reason for that, just as there was a reason for the formation of Akatsuki and the murder of Madara.

Harry woke up again, still unable to move. He had been drifting in and out of consciousness for what felt like days, unless he was sleeping much more than he anticipated. He had wondered if Madara or Hashirama had been captured and kept immobile, but that didn't explain his position under water. Or the fact that he wasn't breathing, but seemed to still be conscious. What he would give just to be able to see!

But, this day was special. His prison of some sort had somehow condensed around him and started crushing him! Harry would occasionally try to push everything away, but he wasn't strong enough to move the wrought iron walls that somehow formed… around… him…

Oh, hell NO!

This was what he was trying to avoid! How the hell did he end up in this position? It was mutiny! He knew it was one of the Death's faults! They were probably watching and making fun of him! He would have the last laugh, though…

Cute giggling escaped Harry's lips. If Harry could, he would curse the simple sound of it. He was supposed to be a terrifying god of… everything! He wasn't supposed to sound cute!

Just wait until he grew up. Then, they would all know of his powerful exploits and cower. Wait… but didn't he not want to have all the attention? It was so long ago. Aw, screw it. He would just do what he wanted to do.

It took several minutes for some light to appear at the base of the prison or sorts. Harry didn't want to think about what that could mean, so he tried to ignore it as best as he could. He was successful in ignoring the female anatomy he suddenly found himself looking at, as well as the doctors (who were surprisingly good at their jobs despite the planet being in some sort of feudal era) who kept trying to make him cry so they knew he was alive. It never hurt, but with his new ears it was loud and startling. He was able to ignore most of it, anyways.

What he couldn't ignore were the shots they gave him. It hurt like hell! And who the hell puts thermometers up other people's asses, anyways? Oh, right. You can't put a thermometer in a baby's mouth. Well, fuck.

And then he got to the chakra check and stuff like that. Now, that was an interesting conversation.

"What? That's impossible! He shouldn't be able to live!"

The other nurse went over. "What's impossible?"

"This!" He held up a graph. "He has too much chakra to even be human! It's almost as much chakra as a veteran summon animal! A body simply can't hold that much chakra unless it's a jinchuriki or Hashirama!"

The second nurse started leafing through papers as fast as she could. The mother noticed and asked the question of "Is everything okay? Is my baby okay?"

She was answered with an affirmative. From there, she went to sleep, probably from exhaustion. Harry wished he could open his damn eyes, but no matter what he tried, he simply couldn't. Maybe it was another suckish thing about his situation?

"We need to run tests. This could be a medical breakthrough if we figured out how this was possible!"

"What? But what about-"

"Don't worry about them. His parents won't know if we run a few tests fast enough. We could disguise them as extra screening!"

The first nurse looked at the second one. "This is a really bad idea."

Just then, Harry sensed another presence walk into the room. It was much more powerful than everybody else in the room, barring possibly the bedridden woman. The power felt like Akihiro's, from the few times he saw the man. It was obviously Hashirama.

"What's a bad idea?"

The two nurses looked at him and smiled brightly. "We were just going to do some extra screening tests, sir. I hope you don't mind."

"Why? Is he alright?"

The second nurse came in at the last second. "That's what we're making sure of."

Hashirama looked at them for a few seconds. For a second, Harry thought they were actually going to crack, but they held firm. "I will come with you. I'm a great healer as you know, so I might be able to help."

The two looked unsure. The first nurse took initiative this time. "That would be great! You could help explain some things."

"Like…?"

"Like how he has so much chakra!"

That was it. Hashirama finally sensed the massive onslaught of chakra being emitted from the infant and gasped. It was one of those 'how' moments where you had none of the pieces and absolutely no way to put them together. With the coupled strain of realizing that he had a child, as well as the problems that came from it with Mito being the way she was, and the strain of finding such an impossible fact out, he fainted.

Yes, people. Hashirama, rival of Madara and possibly most powerful shinobi in the world, fainted. As in hit the floor hard. Let's be thankful that he didn't suffer from brain damage.

If Harry could roll his eyes, he would have.

The nurses looked at each other, unsure of what to do. They settled on bringing him into a hospital bed next to his wife until he woke up.

This left Harry alone with the two nurses, who had absolutely no idea how to test him in the first place. It wasn't too bad, only a couple needles drawing blood and some work at the desks. They studied the makeup of the blood, and how it reacted similar to the blood of other types. Using microscopes and some sort of machine that Harry highly doubted should be seen in such a world, they even determined his blood type and related blood.

He heard some gasps coming from the nurses every once in a while, so he figured they found more stuff which shouldn't be possible. Bored out of his mind, he fell asleep and dreamed, dare he say it, of getting horrendous acupuncture. From that point forwards, Harry had a phobia of needles.

When he woke up next, he was in the arms of Hashirama. It was surprisingly comfortable, even if it was demeaning. He was quiet, but when he noticed slight movement in his arms, he presented Harry with a warm smile. It reminded Harry of Akai when Akai would give such meaningful smiles to him. At that moment, Harry wanted to cry. No, he didn't want to. He did.

Hashirama's eyes opened slightly wider. He tried to shush Harry with rocking him (which made Harry queasy and cry more) and bumping him up and down in his arms (which also did nothing to help). Harry decided on trying to throw up his newly fed milk (It might have been a great view, but the rest was uncalled for) to feel better. It worked, all over Hashirama's new white shirt.

Harry quieted down not long after that, instead focusing a couple of (cute) laughs at the man's face. A pensive would have done nicely, or a photograph. Did they have cameras here? He didn't think so, but they may have had some.

The rest of the trek to the large building was finished quickly, the Hokage wanting to get a clean shirt on as fast as possible. Harry was lain down in a… pink… crib… 'Fuck my life.' Harry briefly wondered what possessed the man to choose this specific color scheme for the crib, but dismissed it as his wife's crazy ideas. Hopefully.

Thinking about insane color schemes brought him to the thought of the room he might have. He decided to not think about it, but the seed of horror was already there. It was so degrading!

Hashirama walked out of the bathroom a few seconds later, looking as good as new. He wore a brown silken shirt with matching brown leather pants and sandals. His brown eyes shown kindly in Harry's direction, and glistened with affection. That smile seemed so much like little Akai's… it was painful. It was so sweet and kind. So innocent. It was the kind that loved all life and would fight anything to save it. It was the kind that so painfully ripped the boy away into the darkness.

Harry's eyes glistened with unshed tears, but they refused to fall. Harry refused to let them. It was over. It was not the time to grieve over the past, it was time to forget the past. No, not forget- never forget again. It was time to remember and learn. He still had the world. And, as much as he disliked it, he was a baby.

Now is as good a time as any to start training, right?

Hashirama must have noticed the tears welling up, because his eyes widened once again. "No, no, don't cry. There's nothing to cry about. Please don't cry." He started to rock Harry back and forth, making Harry a bit woozy again, but thankfully stopped before anything… unfortunate happened.

Hashirama sighed in relief when Harry didn't cry, and set the now-baby Harry back down in the crib and let Harry go to sleep.

Over the next few weeks, Harry became attuned to his smaller chakra to such a degree that he was able to split it back into physical and spiritual energy. It weakened the separate parts exponentially and wouldn't be practical in any way, but it allowed him an awesome control over his chakra. It was something he didn't even know was possible to attain, and vowed to find a way to create such peace with his full power.

Using this control, he found himself capable of not only sensing everything around himself, but absolutely everything in a ten kilometer radius. It was like his powerful eyes that saw through objects, only he didn't need eyes. And he could sense his opponents chakra types and almost memorize their movements.

It was a few days after he arrived in this body that Harry opened his eyes finally. They were a shocking red, with sharingan commas ringing them. It seemed like a permanent sharingan spun in his eyes, never to leave. The most amazing thing, though, was that they were fully matured, with three tomoe in each eye. Medics and doctors of all kinds researched the phenomenon for a week before they were forced out. Hashirama theorized that because of the amount of chakra in his body, Harry couldn't turn off the sharingan. It was fully matured because of the stress the massive chakra put on his body originally. They just left it at that.

The doctors were sworn to secrecy because of the implications of either Hashirama or Mito having Uchiha blood. It wouldn't bode well for the village to find out because other villages would turn and annihilate the Uzumaki clan in Whirlpool. It would be a complete genocide. That couldn't happen.

An illusion was cast over Harry's eyes, similar to a transformation, which turned the red eyes to a deep brown in contrast to his blackening hair. Harry would have looked like the perfect Uchiha in all ways. It was disturbing.

It was after those few weeks that Mito Uzumaki came home. She was calm one moment, but energetic the next. Over the next few years, Harry would often wonder if the woman was bipolar. It was the day she came back that he found out what his actual room looked like.

Harry had been moving his body parts and channeling chakra into his limbs to strengthen them enough to move despite the lack of muscle. It helped, allowing muscles to develop quicker and gain density. It wasn't that tiring, but that didn't say much with the abnormally small amount he actually slept in the eyes of his parents.

He made sure to stop his truly abnormal activities when his parents walked into the room. It was his first real glimpse of his mother figure. She had bright red hair that hung to her shoulders and spread out. Two bangs fell from in front of her ears to the sides of her mouth. Beautiful green eyes shown back at Harry in brilliant wonder. It was the picture of not only the perfect mother, but of Harry's mother.

It looked like a slightly transformed Lilly Potter.

And it brought terrible memories back. Memories which Harry never wanted to remember again. It made his heart weep. He refused to cry, but the rest of his body trembled in sadness. He wouldn't cry in front of these people that were beginning to mean so much to him. Damn his heart and mind. They fell in love with things without his consent.

It was painful to remember the mother he never had. He thought he had gotten over it. He thought it was behind him. But it wasn't. It seemed like the pain would always be there no matter what. His heart would forever throb, even when it didn't beat. His eyes would always weep, even when they refused to cry. It was a nightmare of life and death, how everything you don't want comes back to haunt you.

She walked over, and the first thing she did was pick Harry up and kiss him. It brought him so close to tears, but he managed to refrain. Instead, he settled in to the warmth and let it calm him down. He didn't have to worry. These people would be there for him until their deaths. They would love and care for him. They would survive.

"He really is a cutie, isn't he?" Mito said after a minute.

"Yes, he is" Hashirama said fondly. "And he isn't that hard to take care of. He's an angel."

'An angel of death, maybe' was Harry's morose mental reply. A couple of loose tears slid from his tiny cheeks, unbidden. Nobody noticed.

"Have you shown him his room yet?" Mito asked.

"No, not yet. I was waiting for you to get back, so you could do it with me."

Mito smiled a sincere smile, mirrored by Hashirama's Akai-smile. Harry watched in awe of the deadly memories these two brought up. It killed him. It made him overflow with a mixture of happiness that he could remember the good times, and with sadness for what had ended. How it had all turned out.

Mito, carrying Harry, led Hashirama through the mansion- it could only be a mansion- and into a room at the end of a hallway. It was just as Harry had feared. The walls were painted a mixture of forest green, hot pink, and baby blue. They were covered in flowers- pasty white and burning yellow- and had a space reserved just for the pink crib. Baby toys that weren't ever going to be used lay scattered across the floor. A look of dawning abject horror began to light Harry's face up like a rising sun.

If Harry could, he would have screamed. In this case, fainting like Hashirama (that picture would be forever in his mind) would do. In his unconscious state, he didn't hear the rest of the conversation between the two.

"I think he likes it."

Mito looked at him, and then Harry. "He's already asleep. The color scheme must have soothed him to sleep. I told you it was a good idea.

"You were right. I'm glad I didn't do it. I would have done a forest scheme with a sunset." Hashirama looked around the room and shivered. "Babies are weird."

It was the next day, when Harry woke up, that something was noticeably wrong. His parents barged into the room with looks of horror plastered on their faces. Harry- no, it was Eiji now- didn't know what to make of their disheveled states. They kept mumbling too low for Harry to accurately hear. They probably did it to keep from disturbing Eiji.

Eiji. The name suited him in some sort of messed up way. It translated to the word eternal. It was his curse that he was forced to bear, first of his free will, and then as a punishment for choosing the hell he lived in. Eternal. It would always follow him. He would be the last thing, just as many believed him to be the first. In the end, it would be only him. The end.

A few seconds later, a sudden earthquake hit the village. Some buildings fell down, changing into rubble. A sudden heat smashed right into Eiji's face. It didn't hurt, but it was hot. More earthquakes smashed the village. The earth rocked. The smell of rot began to waft into the room. A roar. Some groaning.

Hashirama ran over and grabbed Eiji, consequences be damned. At least Eiji could hear then.

"He'll be fine! It isn't the most powerful, and he has enough chakra to keep it at bay. This is necessary!" It was Hashirama.

"I know he'll survive! But what about you? You'll die! You don't have to use that seal, you can use another one!" Mito was hysterical.

Hashirama looked down. "If I don't use that seal, then the village would take many more casualties than necessary. I can't let that happen."

"But you're the only one that is holding this village together! Don't do it!"

Harry was forming an idea about what they were talking about. He didn't like it. He started to actually cry. He tried to hold it back, but at the thought of never seeing that Akai smile again, he couldn't help it. Choked sobs formed in his throat. Mito took him and tried to soothe him. He only cried harder, knowing that his feeling of wholeness that came from Hashirama would never be felt again.

Hashirama shook his head sadly. "It has to be done. My brother can take over. He's a great leader and can lead this village to prosperity. Everything will be fine. Don't worry."

"But everything won't be fine! Who's going to be Eiji's father? Who will be his dad?"

"I'm sorry. It's a necessary evil."

Mito started screaming. "Think about yourself for once! Stop being so selfless! You treat yourself like dirt and the people like gods! Stop it! Just stop it!" Mito fell to her knees and grabbed Hashirama's legs, crying on his leather pants. "Please. Don't go. Do it for me."

Hashirama put his hand on her head. Eiji was on the ground next to him. "I'm sorry. This has to be done."

With that, Eiji found himself lifted into the air by Hashirama. Eiji was crying hysterically, too. He couldn't bear to find another person he cared about- even if for a couple of weeks- dead at his feet. Too many people have died. Too many murdered because of either himself or for himself. There was too much death. Too much pain.

Too much blood and tears. Rot and decay. Nothing survived. Everything ended up dead. And the dead, which should be at rest, can never be at rest as long as there was so much hatred.

The door was kicked open from the outside, shattered on the far wall. Mito go up as soon as she could. Hashirama was already prepared for the worst. Eiji was taken by Hashirama and held protectively. There was nothing Hashirama could do as long as Eiji was in his arms, so Mito was alone in the fight. When the dust settled, red eyes glared into the room. Red eyes that morphed into purple rings with silver. They glared, and thunderous earthquakes shook the background.

It seemed like the beginning of the end. Maybe misery would forever rule. Would it?

Stay tuned for the next installment, "A Fire-y Cat of a Man."

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I put the last part in as some sort of foreshadowing. Keep it in mind. I hope I didn't make anything too obvious, but that's debatable. I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and next chapter will have non-Harry, or Eiji as it is now, action. It will be mostly Hashirama and Mito fighting unknown opponents. Lastly, I would love to hear what you readers think about what's happening.

What are the earthquakes?

What are the eyes and who do they belong to?

Is this the end of Hashirama, or will something miraculous happen?

Since we all know that this story can't go on without Harry, I won't even bother to ask if he'll survive. I'm not stupid, and I know the readers aren't either. So, good luck.

Benedark: The god of this reality.


	7. A Firey Cat of a Man

I'm sorry for the shorter chapter, but I've been having writer's block. Now, my writer's block is very different from a normal person's writer's block. I always have ideas, so my creativity is never stunted. It's really the course my ideas take. I'll find my creativity for one thing severely drop, but the creativity for something else will skyrocket. I tried to write through it, and this chapter is the result. I hope it's an acceptable chapter, and that you people will continue to follow this story. Also, it isn't as funny as other chapters because it focuses on fighting, specifically with Hashirama. He's not a very funny guy.

So, here it is, and have a nice day.

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The dead rise and fall. Zombies do nothing but what they were summoned to do. After that, they exact any hatred and then fall back to their graves. That is the cycle of the undead. They cannot survive without something binding them to the world. People say that death is the end. Is it?

Hashirama stood back while the dust cleared. Red eyes turned silvery purple with rings. A god's eyes stared the room's occupants down with a baleful glare. Hatred stemmed in that sight. Hatred and rage bubbled just above the surface. It bled through the cracks and pushed in the crevices. It fueled the power that kept him there.

A rhythmic tapping of heavy boots entered the room, the eyes getting bigger. A figure appeared, wearing black. All black with the exception of a white and red fan on the chest. Black hair cascaded down his back. His flesh was falling off, and bones were clear. Several places where there should have been nothing were filled in with a blue flame-like energy. The energy cast terrifying shadows across the room. The world danced.

The figure stopped, just when it became visible. It said one word. "Die." Then disappeared.

Mito found herself thrown through the wall, but managed to right herself before landing on the soft grass. The man turned and stood in front of Hashirama as the man prepared to protect himself and the child.

"How are you here?" He asked. "How are you alive?"

The man chuckled. A raspy voice escaped his cracked lips. "Death cannot stop me from my revenge." A foot appeared in the air, attached to Mito. The man caught it without even flinching. "This village betrayed me. You banished me and then killed me. It's all your fault!"

The man threw Mito onto the ground, eliciting a sharp gasp from her. Hashirama began to run forwards, but stopped when the man put a kunai next to her throat. The man almost smiled. It came out as a twitch. Hashirama was deathly still.

"It wasn't like that and you know it! You were causing a civil uprising. You had to be stopped. You were my friend, even if you refuse to say it. I couldn't kill you!"

Hashirama was cut off when the man said "Shut up! That's a lie! I was trying to make the village better, but your love and compassion was weakening it. We need to be strong!"

"Madara! Listen to yourself!" Another earthquake rocked the village. "You can't just kill anyone that doesn't agree! This world is full of war and blood! It needs to stop. That's why this village was founded. Not to conquer the world."

The man named Madara –Eiji recognized him now- scowled. "And this is why others walk all over this place. We can't be the laughing stalk of the world. We need to be strong. But now, that's not an option. You will die for your weakness." Madara moved the kunai and threw it at the wall behind Hashirama.

Hashirama set Eiji down in the crib and tackled Madara out of the room, leaving Mito unconscious on the floor. The two fell to the ground, and flipped apart, landing on opposite sides of the field. There was a short stare-down.

"You cannot win" Madara spoke.

"Yes I can."

The two disappeared from sight and met in the middle of the field, one with a fist in their gut and the other with his head to the side just having dodged the punch. Hashirama found himself barreling towards the guesthouse and through it. Madara followed, pushing the debris out of the way like an annoying bug.

Madara was caught unawares as Hashirama blew through another wall, kicking Madara right back into the field. More earth shattering rumbles shook the earth. Hashirama glanced to the side to analyze how much time he had to escape and complete the sealing. It cost him.

A pressure found its way on top of Hashirama, forcing the man to lose his balance. Madara formed a meteor above them and was about to throw it down, but it broke to pieces when a tree sprouted and constricted around it. Hashirama turned and made wood clones to distract Madara. It did little, because a black fire burned into existence. The black fire burned right through them, and the tree.

A giant water dragon smashed into Madara very suddenly. The earthquakes were getting more frequent. Hashirama had to do this now. He took a moment to glance at his brother, Tobirama, before speeding away, leaving his brother to stall the threat. The earthquakes were what needed to be stopped.

Tobirama watched Hashirama speed into the distance where a slight blue glow was the only visible thing over the border of the trees, only moving to intercept Madara when the man went to go after him. Madara flew right into a wall of water, slowing down and almost falling. Realizing what happened, Madara began to levitate, glaring at Tobirama with hatred. The earth started to rise as boulders, preparing to strike the water user down without mercy. Tobirama stood, staring back without fear.

The spears of rock were stopped by another wall of water. When the wall lowered, Madara was gone. Tobirama suddenly found himself hit in the back by electricity before he could move. Had Madara appeared behind him? When Tobirama got the energy to turn around, his eyes widened in horror. There was an army. A whole fucking army of death and decay. The dead were rising, killing every living thing they could get their hands on.

Blood curdling screams filled the air. A woman running from her house was cut down by what could only be an Uzumaki, blue fire lighting up half of her face. Some of the village ninja, the ones that weren't running away in fear, tried to annihilate the abominations. It was futile. The things simply let the blue fire compensate for any lost limbs. Some of the zombies used elemental attacks to cause mass destruction. They destroyed entire sectors of the city. They set the world alight with destruction.

While entranced by the chaos, Tobirama was in no position to move away from the black fire which consumed him. It hit his arm, burning it away. He was starting to lose consciousness from the electrified destruction of his nerves, but the fire hit him hard. Unable to continue, especially from all of the surprise attacks, he fell off of the moisture he was using to levitate, smashing against the ground with a dull thump. The mish-mash of death simply spread around him, uncaring.

Hashirama, now carrying Eiji, sped through the trees to the source of the blue light. Unfortunately, he was cut off by the onslaught of zombies surrounding the village. With the sudden stop, Eiji was almost dropped, but Hashirama kept his hold. Eiji stared impassively out towards the army.

Hashirama set Eiji down on a tree, away from the mass of death. As soon as Eiji was down, the zombies charged. Hashirama used his power to restrain the zombies with trees, still too close to the village to use his very destructive techniques. He cut many down with his sword, even though he wasn't a master. It worked, though, against such a large army. He could kill things no matter which way he threw his arm. It was at that point that he realized that those he killed, didn't really die. With every limb cut off, blue fire would replace it. Cutting off the head didn't make any headway, either. Cutting them in half actually allowed them to multiply. Nothing was working.

It was down to trapping them, then. So many were congregated around his position that if he were to get away fast enough, he could trap a large majority of them at once. He jumped away, speeding faster than most of them could probably see. One hit him with a blunt piece of earth which he couldn't dodge. It would leave a bruise, but it was better than getting skewered by that shard of ice that whizzed just next to the rock. It didn't really even knock him off balance.

As soon as he cleared the zone, trees twisted around the mob and trapped them in a cocoon. It was an entire third of the army, probably a hundred. The other two hundred ran in from other sides, but kept away from each other in fear of getting trapped like the others. That just made it difficult.

Trees acted on constricting movement and forcing the zombies into specific places to trap. It worked for the most part, but many were able to escape. Hashirama found himself in a duel with a man that held swords made of blood, along with a woman who sported a giant hammer. The man jumped forwards, red hair mixing with the blue fire, sword held high.

Hashirama drew his sheathed sword at neigh instant speed, parrying with great skill. He jumped to the side of the follow up attack by the red blades, each slashing diagonally down and intersecting. Without any time to make a strike, himself, he kept moving backwards. He had to make a plan, fast. He was getting tired, and the army didn't seem to be slowing down at all. It had to be finished fast, before anything terribly bad happened.

Maybe if he dodged to the left and ducked behind that tree, he would get that extra second to command the tree to trap the two? That might work.

Hashirama dodged to the left, out of the clearing he had found himself in, and tried to bend behind the tree. He didn't expect a giant, white fireball to be inches away from him.

Eiji was still lying on the branch he was set on top of. He wanted to feel terrified for the life of his new father, but for some reason the presence of the fire felt calming and tranquil to him. It was like it belonged to him, as weird as it sounds. The blue fire's warmth would simply caress his colder body. It felt as if a piece of him was watching out for him.

So, he sat there with a neutral expression on his face. Everywhere he looked, he wanted to feel angry at what was happening to the village and to innocent lives, but when he saw the blue fire causing the chaos, he wanted to feel happy and more complete. He settled for neutral.

It was while he was dealing with his emotions that a group of five zombies gathered around him. They stood there for a moment with their heads bowed down slightly. It was as if they were gazing at something else, something behind Eiji. Or through Eiji. It was hard to tell. They radiated a feeling of awe, though. Definitely awe and some sort of respect. It was baffling.

So, Eiji stood there and didn't make any noise. It might not have been the best thing to do, but Eiji felt no need to be protected from them. He felt a necessity to go with them. It made no sense, and he should have been screaming for somebody to help him in his defenseless form, but he didn't. It was an instance where his gut feeling was overpowering his rationality, hence his Gryphondor nature, and it sat well with him. It was meant to be.

After a moment of presumed reverence, the zombies looked up with their rotted and mutilated faces. One had its throat cut open, three had almost nothing left of their face. The last was the most human looking, with nothing but slight signs of aging and a hole through its head. They all wore Japanese kimonos, those of great quality. Probably their funeral gowns and dress. None of them had eyes, denoting several hundred year old ritual burials. Instead, black holes gazed blankly out, one with some brain particles still sticking out.

They began to march forwards, arms out, and they picked Eiji up with caution. Eiji felt himself rise into the air, courtesy of the rotting flesh, and with a quick burst of movement, they were gone. When Eiji looked up next, it was to a giant pillar of blue flames. A very recognizable pillar of blue flames.

One that moved forwards to engulf Eiji's entirety.

Some would say it was an eternal fire that was snuffed out. Others would say a god saved them that day. Nobody would truly know, at least not yet.

* * *

Was it okay? I really want to know. Next chapter introduces another character, who will be funny and sarcastic. He'll play some very important roles in this story. Actually, with how my mind works, I'm thinking of combining this book and the idea for the next book into one book, all at the same time. It will be really interesting to see how this works out. It was actually book two of this that was drawing all of my creativity out, so if I combine the two, hopefully my writing will improve.

Remember, review.

Oh, and before I forget, I want to rant about how 'guest' is interpreting this story. He states that Harry is a 'pussy' because he's sad about all of the shit that went on in his life. I think that it's very reasonable to say that anybody would be depressed after everything that went on in his long life, especially with how he realizes that everybody else will die around him, and with him remembering his mother who he never knew. I think that he's a fucked up person with a shitty life, and that if you think otherwise, then you can go fuck yourself you heartless mother fucking bastard. I don't care about what you think about in your spare time, but I don't want to hear about how you're a heartless piece of shit. If you have a problem with this, then PM me and we'll talk about it.

Good bye, and see you all later.

Benedark


	8. Ringed Eyes of Revenge

Sorry for the two week delay. I'll try to make it up to you with this chapter. I'm adding a new aspect to my story which is time travel, but done in a completely unique way. I hope that it's okay, and you people like it. I added a couple of fight/ war scenes along with some comedy. I hope it isn't too repetitive, but I honestly couldn't think of anything else at the time. It'll become easier to do some comedy when I bring the aspects of death back in, along with Harry being able to make coherent sentences again. It'll be next chapter, I promise. I'm trying to keep my story completely original, but seriously, if anybody has any ideas, I would gladly hear them and I will try to incorporate everything I hear into the story in some sort of way. I already have plans for other mentioned scenes. I'll also take characters if you have ideas for them! Just give a name, abilities, and some background.

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Two bodies lay on the ground. Neither was entirely dead, per say, but one was very close to it. The body was burned black, nothing but pitch black. Charcoal skin flaked off in showers. The eyes held tightly closed, unable to open. They were welded shut. Ashes sat next to the body, the clothes that were no more. This body belonged to Hashirama Senju, the first Hokage.

The next body is that of an infant. It wasn't mutilated or destroyed such as the previous one, but was simply unconscious. Many would claim that it went into a coma because of the pressure of the two tailed cat: the Nibi. The baby would be sent to a hospital where it would remain for the next two weeks. The name of the baby: Eiji Senju.

At the same time as both of these bodies were found and admitted to the primary care and emergency ward at the hospital, another anomaly was happening. It wasn't abnormal for the occupants of the house, but rather that of the baby that woke up in the crib. The baby's name: Harry Potter.

He opened his eyes, finding himself staring up at a brown ceiling. Now, normally nothing was very weird about looking up at a brown ceiling when one wakes up, but this was a place he had never seen in his life. You don't just fall unconscious in the middle of a battle field and wake up in a pleasant house. He could have at least woken up in a hospital, but not a freaking house!

Did he just see a plate of waffles float by on a floating plate? Now, where had he seen this before…? It was vaguely familiar, but he just couldn't put his finger on it…

"James, is Harry awake? Why don't you go check on him?"

Harry froze. Thoughts simply ceased and all Harry wanted to do was break down in tears, hoping that this dream wouldn't go away. It was a miracle. It was so perfect that he hoped that he would never wake up.

That voice was his mother's. He would recognize it anywhere, even if he never met her. And she called the other man James. James was his father! Harry suddenly felt very afraid. He was afraid that this all was just a dream. In fact, there was an almost one hundred percent chance that this was all impossible. No, not impossible, Harry already proved that impossibilities didn't exist. It was largely improbable.

The voices were getting louder. Closer. "Why do I have to? You're closer."

Lily could be heard sighing. "Because I'm painting my nails. I have to let them dry."

"Awww. Fine." James' face suddenly came into view. Harry's eyes grew increasingly wide at the revelation that it might not be a dream. That he could quite possibly have gone back in time, or appeared in another universe, or both. It was amazing! It was-

Harry choked on the disgusting, vile, pitiful excuse for shit known as 'baby food.'

"Come on. Eat up. You need your energy for the party. And it's almost Halloween, so we get to eat extra!"

What was this man trying to do, kill him? Harry was about to throw up the poison that he was being forced to ingest when the words registered. Halloween. All Hallows Eve. The night the two parents of Harry Potter died. But when was it? How long until that day?

"Only two weeks until the candy comes in!"

Wait. James ate the candy, too? That was surprising. But it was to be expected from the ex-marauder. Or was it current? Did they ever disband?

James picked Harry up, bringing him over to the couch. It made a nice place to view the television, along with a cozy place to sit. As long as there was no rocking. Rocking was bad. The television, a real surprise for Harry because he didn't think it was possible to have a television in a magical household, was an old model fit for black and white films. No remote, and a single dial on the dashboard. It played the Three Stooges. While entertaining, it got old quickly.

Now that he thought of it, Harry never did barf up the food. He could only imagine the damage it was doing to his intestines.

Even with the soon-to-be indigestion, and the unremarkable screen flashing through idiots getting hit in the head by clothes-irons, Harry found himself comfortable. Happy, even. Of course he was ecstatic to see his parents, but passed that, there was a content joy that sprouted at simply being there and not having to worry about any evil, maniacal bastards destroying the world (other than Voldemort, but screw him. He was at the farthest corner of Harry's mind at that point.).

That's where Harry fell asleep once again. In his father's arms. In the comforting cloth wrapped around him, touching his father's satin pajamas covered in red. His mother, Lily, seated right next to James, leaning in with a smile. One just like Mito held when she saw him. James carried Harry back to the crib (screw this piece of shit contraption. Harry couldn't move anywhere with it) with a devout reverence. It was like a holy day, the same one every day. An armistice in war. A benevolence peaking through the tragic darkness. A love not seen anywhere else, to be repeated every day until no more.

The next day, Harry was woken up with a strangled gasp when James tugged him into the air. The man had wicked glasses on, round and unstylish but still wicked. Under those glasses was a large smile and gleeful creases on his face, denoting his apparent joy at life. His pajamas were exchanged for red robes, those of a true Gryphondor, and some golden stripes falling from the bottom. Briefly, Harry wondered if wizards wore actual clothing under their robes or simply liked the breeze. He didn't dwell on it, not wanting the answer.

"Harry! Wake up! We're going to a festival today! We're allowed out of the house for once while dog-breath watches the house!"

There was a call of "James!" from the kitchen. "I told you not to wake the baby! Be glad he isn't crying." As an afterthought, she added "And don't call Serius that!"

James pouted for a minute, probably thinking about the best way to get Lily to unintentionally prank Serius. He would find a way.

"Exactly! He's not crying. So it's all good, right?"

Lily sighed. "I guess… Just let me finish getting ready for the festival."

Five minutes later, they walked out the door, meeting with a man James called "Worm Tail." He seemed vaguely familiar, but Harry couldn't put his finger on just why. The fidgety man was important somehow. Very important. Like, so hugely important that Harry wanted to shoot himself for not remembering. He just needed a gun…

The four of them began their walk to the festival. Harry listened as the other three- Lily, James, and Wormtail- talked about insignificant matters. The matters that Harry had decided he loved. So he didn't have to think. He wouldn't have to kill, even after becoming so desensitized to the art. No more pain. Only talk, or listen, and not have to be truly aware. Even with the name Wormtail nagging at the back of his mind, Harry didn't pay attention to it, preferring to gaze at the faces of his family.

When they got to the gates of the magically appearing carnival, everything lit up like stars in the night sky. Lights of various colors and hues broke through the chaos of the crowds. Rides and booths for games towered everywhere, while kids on training brooms flew at ground level around the masses. Everything was alight with life. There was happiness permeating the air- Harry was able to feel it. Maybe it had to do with the facet of his power coming back to him? It was something he was able to do with passive ligillimency.

What mattered though, was all of his thoughts were being washed away from all of the entrancing joy flitting into him. Harry could have stayed like that forever and not mind.

They walked in, still smiling and laughing. Bumper cars with levitating cars. A living Merry-go-round. Shoot the dark wizard. It took ten minutes to finally find a place to sit down and eat breakfast.

Harry was really not looking forwards to the next installment of green and yellow devil shit. He could somehow survive again after absorbing the fiery cat without eating. It seemed that the cat was, in fact, a small portion of every power he previously had. The control portion of them all, and with just enough power to make use and hold it together. This meant that Harry was once again slightly immortal. He didn't have to eat, only drink.

Another serving of throwing up on James, and they were on their way again. Harry was forced to stay on the ground in practicality and safety. He didn't mind. He was handed to Wormtail, the stuttering man, while his parents went on a large rollercoaster. It took a while for Harry to place, but he was certain it was called a rollercoaster.

Wormtail held Harry awkwardly, though Harry didn't really mind it. They took a seat next to a food court. Trays of menus floated by every once in a while, with various titles. "Etleg's Eatery" and "Spiders, Soups, and Slugs" were the two most prominent. Wormtail stood up without Harry and walked towards "Lovely Lips," a market specifically for some type of burgers and hot dogs.

It was then that the peaceful revelry was broken.

It started with a bright flash of green haze. It drifted upwards, unerringly. All of a sudden, it contorted and shifted into the shape of a skull. That was when people began to panic. A few screamed, others ran. Harry couldn't see really well because of his position. He wanted to see really badly. Wormtail was still out there, leaving Harry alone. Harry feared for that man. He was nice and caring. Now Wormtail was in the middle of a battlefield.

Harry tried to move his head. Flashes of light blazed over top of him, but nowhere near him. Harry kept trying to make something move. He needed to move. He needed to see what was happening. Slowly, he felt himself getting stronger. He was channeling chakra through his muscles to strengthen them, piece by tiny piece. He raised an arm, and then the other. The two arms pushed back, chubby flesh leaning on the fuzzy linen. A head rose. Harry was astounded by what he saw.

Wormtail, the stuttering and scared wreak, stood up with a terrifying gleam in his eye. His wand was secured tightly in his right hand, a hand that was turning red with the intensity he gripped it with. The piece of wood swung smoothly and intricately in speeding motions, throwing yellow and red light against the onslaught of black and neon blue. The black trench-coat that surrounded his body flowed like water around him. One unlucky man got too close and was punched through the face by Wormtail. Frightened, cowardly Wormtail.

Harry could only watch in astonishment. Death Eaters and the followers of Voldemort were swarming and he was taking half of them down all by himself. Wormtail. The man turned and clotheslined another man with a white mask as he ran by. Wormtail turned on his feet, pivoting from the force he used on that man, and readied his bruised fist for the next unlucky bastard while throwing a yellow curse behind him- nailing both Death Eaters at once. Five more took their places.

Just as Wormtail turned to hit another cloaked figure, a blue beam of light, like the sky falling, smashed into Wormtail's right arm. The caramel wand broke from the mutilated arm and fell into the mob around him. Wormtail spun around two more beams of light and jumped over a sickly black one, but in his airborne position, he was caught in another black beam. Wormtail's body flew into the black crowd, bowling ten over.

Harry screamed for the man. Harry tried to get up, but failed. Harry watched as the rat faced man struggled back to his feet and nailed another Death Eater in the nose; as that man fell to the ground holding his bleeding face; as Wormtail was once again brought down in his shaken form.

A blue light surrounded Harry. Ethereal flames flared, burning brightly. The ground around the Death Eaters cracked. Those cracks glowed red, and steam began to rise. The whole air began to distort around the black cloaked figures. And the Death Eaters screamed. They tried to run away, but found themselves trapped. The cracks spread out, covering practically everything. First came the broom stands, and then some booths. Everything caught on fire, one after another.

People- innocent or not- screamed and ran. They didn't get far. The Death Eaters were no exception. Nothing made it far. The cracks spread to the edges of the fair and stopped. Yes, they stopped. Only for a moment, though. One second there were screams, the next, nothing. Not, it wasn't nothing. The noise was just too loud to realize that there was noise at all. Because at that moment, a beacon of light was seen from across the English Channel all the way in France. Earthquakes shook all over Europe. Tsunamis drowned the Netherlands. The carnival simply… imploded.

When the light finally died down, there was nothing. Nothing in all directions. Wait. There was something. A shimmering blue light shattered, revealing Wormtail lying on the ground. His arm was red with blood and severely mangled. The rest of him was a nasty shade of purple, bruised and probably suffering from internal bleeding. His outfit wasn't in a very bad condition, though, except on the arm where it was torn to shreds. He would survive, but he may not be able to use his arm ever again.

Just then, there were two thumps beside him, where a roller coaster used to be. In place of the ride lay two figures, one on top of the other. One could vaguely recognize the one on the top to be James Potter. It was hard to tell without the glasses, though. The bottom shelved Lily Potter, who was lying in a pool of blood. Her arm was snapped, and the bone could be seen jutting out in a ludicrous manner. Both were alive, at least for the time being. Their chests rose and fell, and their souls were still connected to their bodies.

Next came the sound of popping, and then Harry felt himself being picked up. Harry's vision was blurring. The world was twisting in on itself. Somehow, the table Harry was on survived. It was in perfect condition.

He couldn't say the same thing about the rest of the carnival. Or the baby food that happened to get caught in the explosion while on the surviving table. What a coincidence…

And that was about the time Harry fell unconscious. Lily and James Potter, along with Peter Pettigrew and Harry, himself, were all taken to the wizarding hospital known as "Hertricia Cornerstone."

It would be two weeks until Halloween. Two weeks of sitting in a bed, recovering. Harry would have recovered faster, but that ability was apparently not part of the 'two tails' deal. For Harry, it was better known as 'be uncomfortable while being changed by unknown men and women and fed disgusting "get better" crap' time. Yeah. Don't go there.

Harry lay motionless, concentrating on the power running through him. He was picking it apart, trying to understand his limitations. The power was steadily growing, but it was still incredibly small. It was meant to be the controller or catalyst of the rest of his power. He already knew that. He had about as much power as he did when he first discovered the limitless possibilities of physical energy. It could be estimated at about the power of Dumbledor and Voldemort combined.

How, then, was he able to blow everything up like that? Well, at the cost of practically all of his power, and with the immense control he has courtesy of having such a small amount of power in comparison to what he had before, the results were… devastating.

So, the concentration alone passed the time at an accelerated pace. The days flew by like birds in migration. The silver feathers of seconds ticked by, unheeded by boredom. Harry didn't even realize two weeks had gone by until a nurse exclaimed "Happy Halloween" to him.

Harry mumbled some gibberish, trying to pronounce 'yeah, sure.' His lips still didn't annunciate very well.

"I'm glad that you're so happy!" she exclaimed in an all-too-happy voice. "You should be! I just wish that we could dress you up. You'd be soooooo cute!"

Harry choked for a moment, but the fear quickly passed. There was no way in hell… or death… or- dammit! None of those worked. There was no way in… something… that he would dress up as anything. He didn't want to be touched more than necessary. Especially by the bright and sunny nurses. Like this one.

Harry was once more changed- did Harry ever mention how much he hated shitting himself simply because there wasn't a washroom in transportation distance? Well, he hated it. He was also tempted to piss on the next nurse that tried to change him. He would never get the chance.

It was just past five in the evening when Harry realized that everything was simply silent. There was no noise at all. The other babies were completely quiet, as well. It was like everybody was expecting something to happen. Everybody and everything had taken a vow of silence in reverence for what was to come.

And then there was noise. It was in the background, like a bug crawling up your arm. It itched and tickled Harry. It kept growing louder. The babies all at once started to scream deafening screams. Harry saw the silver light through the walls, of multitudes of souls suddenly and painfully leaving their hosts. The nurse that was there walked around, trying to console the babies, completely oblivious to the mass of people dying. Another nurse joined her almost immediately after the chaos started.

And then the realization that his parents were still in the hospital hit him hard. Harry found himself struggling to move his body upwards. He used some wind and gravity to propel himself to the ceiling. He found himself floating awkwardly. His power was different from before, and he had to exert a larger amount of power to stay afloat. He would stay afloat for an hour. It could be much more, but fear caused him a large lapse in control. It was painstaking to try to ignore the quick fatigue it was bringing him. He would endure as he always had.

A nurse caught sight of him through the pandemonium. She ran to exertion to try and help him, thinking he was in danger of some terrible force. Harry charged forwards towards the door, going right under her pink-embroidered sleeve, touching a sliver of smooth skin on her wrist as she grabbed towards him. If he could, he might have said "You'll never feed me any shit again, bitches!" but that was a thought for another time.

Harry came within reaching distance of the door before he realized that he had no way of getting through the door.

'Aw shit.'

The door splintered under the force, and gave out. Harry's bruises healed slowly, but fast enough. The blood from his nose took a second longer to coagulate. By then, Harry was through the door and into the light blue walled hallway with brown doors on each side. It looked like a war.

Blood splattered on the white and grey tiled floor, splashing in rhythm to the feet that trampled it. The hallway was littered with fallen soldiers of the Ministry of Magic. Death Eaters, coming out in hordes, were across on the other side of the battlefield, at the end of the hallway. It looked like the Death Eaters were gaining ground, even though they were losing the most numbers. No Ministry reinforcements were showing up. Maybe a hospital was less important than the ministry? More security was needed there, apparently. Like, all of it.

The Ministry soldiers saw Harry, first. That distraction was all the Death Eaters needed to kill the last few. Harry only gave a brief glance at the bodies before zipping past both the bodies and the Death Eaters. To give the Death Eaters credit, when they saw the flying baby, only one of them fainted.

When Harry made it past the corner, he made a sharp turn to get to his parents' life force. They were in that corridor. One was subtle and transparent, probably still unconscious. The other, though, was the one that worried him. It was next door, flaring brightly like it was high off adrenaline. It was in a fight. It was fighting relentlessly against unbeatable odds. Harry sped up as fast as he could, but with his limited control, he couldn't go as fast as he wanted. The unconscious one, his mother, woke up about the same time as James' life force turned a silver and disappeared. The shock of what happened spun Harry out of control and right into a lamp, which shattered around him. Harry stuck to the metal rods in the ceiling, half-conscious.

Harry was aware enough to see a man walk out of the room his father died in. A man wearing black robes like the rest of them, but not wearing a mask or hood. The man sported fine black hair and a regal face. The eyes glowed an eerie red, coupled by the slit-like pupils in their center. In his hand was a black wand that emanated the feeling of unadulterated destruction. It wasn't powerful, but it was pure. Undiluted. Perfect for its user.

A name snuck its way into Harry's head. That man that killed his father could only be Voldemort. Tom Riddle. He-who-must-not-be-named. And he was heading towards Lily Potter's room.

Harry struggled as much as he could. The metal bars on the ceiling twisted and twisted under Harry's unnatural power. One snapped. Voldemort was putting his hand on the sterile silver door handle. The second snapped. Voldemort's ear twitched, and he turned his head for a moment to see what the sound was. Nothing. The door opened and Voldemort put one foot in before stumbling back as a yellow light shot out over him. The third bar snapped. Harry shot out as fast as he possibly could and nailed Voldemort right in the crotch. That evil man was down for the count.

Voldemort grabbed his crotch, trying to relieve the pain, when another beam shot at him. He twisted just enough to get out of the way before pulling his wand out and shot recklessly at everything. He didn't care. He wanted whatever hit him dead. That bastard would pay with their life.

Harry fell back, startled by his poor aim and gagging at what he hit. He was aiming for the face, god dammit! But noooooo. He had to hit the one thing worse than that baby food. Harry promised himself to take a weeklong shower when this was all over.

A beam of light flew past Harry, forcing him to get his head back into the fight. Harry sat up from his position on the ground, preparing himself again for the fight. Voldemort was recovered, and glaring at Harry with a cold fury. Voldemort raised his wand of destruction, preparing a spell of hatred. He yelled as loud as he could.

"Avada Kadavra!"

The green spell flashed towards Harry at great speeds, almost blindingly. Harry was about to dodge to the side when he heard somebody scream "Harry!" at the top of their lungs. A figure obscured his vision, and then a green glow came from the person in front of him. The silver soul floated up several inches, and then disappeared. Harry watched the limp form of his mother drop to the ground in front of him. Harry was paralyzed. He didn't know if he should scream in rage and kill everything or cry on his mother. He stood there as the man, Voldemort cackled in glee. He stood there, stock still, as the screaming of the hospital faded into the background. He stood there, unmoving, as Voldemort seemed to mouth words, and then send another soul removing spell at him. Harry felt himself falling forwards, welcoming the call of death. He almost wanted it.

The last thing Harry saw was a man that he recognized running around the corner and screaming something, probably "Harry!" Then, green light enveloped him, and Harry felt an immense pain as his soul began to tear its way from his body. Harry was numb to it. Harry let the pain pass, the pain of everything he ever experienced. The pain of every memory. The pain of life. He let it all wash down around him, finally. He welcomed the destruction. He welcomed the end. Then, just as he was about to meet the inevitable, his power started to fight back.

Harry drew it in as far as he could, trying to let his body and soul move on. It was a loosing battle. Harry's power rebounded dangerously. Harry's eyes opened very suddenly, just in time to see Voldemort's body crumble apart, along with the glass. The walls broke from the force. Glass shards shattered across Harry's vision. Harry saw a brief glimpse of silver rings in one shard. Rings that surrounded a purplish silver pupil, which was located in the middle of an eye. Before Harry could speculate, he cried out in pain, and he blinked before sitting upright.

Harry found himself looking straight at a red headed woman who looked almost exactly like his mother, but was not. It was his other mother. It was the woman that could never replace Lily. It was the fake. The replacement. Harry screamed in emotional agony. He closed his eyes tightly, trying to get back to England. When he opened them, he was still in Konoha. The red head startled awake and ran to pick up Harry- no, it was Eiji here. Eiji felt himself being picked up. He closed his eyes once again, trying in vain to get back to the other reality. He screamed, and thrashed. He fought. He hoped. He hoped beyond hope. He couldn't get back.

With Harry's reasoning, he figured it had to do with absorbing the piece of power. Harry swore that he would find the rest of his power. He would have revenge on every miserable whelp that ever thought of worshipping that bastard. Harry would make sure that even Voldemort's soul would perish. Voldemort would die. He would suffer for everything. Everybody would.

Or his name wasn't Harry Potter, Eiji Senju.

Heads were going to roll.

* * *

Did you like it? I really want to know what you people think. I hope I'm not making it too complicated, but I really wanted some sort of plot above getting his power back. And, while it's a great plot as long as I have good character interactions, I wanted something more. I was planning on incorporating this as a second book after he got all of his power back, with the dimensional travel back and forth and such, but got board and decided to spice the story up here instead of waiting. And revenge is a great motivator!

Review and follow. Screw favoriting. Following is where it's at.

Oh, and if you want to know, the second character that I have listed for the story isn't a pairing or anything like that. It's really a hint about what's going to happen next. Keep an eye on it and send some guesses as to what you think's going to happen next to me. Happy thinking!

Benedark. May the Schwartz be with you.


	9. My friend, Misery

AN: I made this chapter twice as long as many of my other ones. I hope you like it that way, but it won't become a habit, so don't get your hopes up. I'm warning you now, that this chapter is harsh and dark. This is my writing when I actually put my emotions and philosophies in. You have been warned.

I'm still waiting for more ideas that people want to see used in my story. I'll try and incorporate anything anybody asks, within reason, into the story. Anything you want to see will be taken into account, and you will almost definitely see it showing up if you ask. So ask.

And follow. Following is important.

Now, on with the story. There will be line breaks in between certain sections to help it run more smoothly, so don't think that it's the end of the story halfway through. I wouldn't do that... would I?

* * *

Eiji walked along the black asphalt paths. They were just like the ones from home. The same texture and the same shade. All black. A morose and awful color. But, it was not the same pavement. There were no common rocks. There wasn't a common destination. It just went forwards. It went off into the distance, and into nowhere special. All roads lead to the center, like in Rome. Only, instead of an extravagant monument laden with gold, here they led to nothingness. Every corner of every turn led into pointlessness and despair. Why…? Why…?

To the left situated another funeral. They were common in this world. Eiji wouldn't have given a second glance five years prior, but in his current mind, sadness and anger dwelled. He would watch in silence for a moment, standing in the back, hidden. Eiji would think about the empty seats. The seats set up for honored guests, family, friends. The spaces kept in honor of the people who could die any moment while out on missions. He would watch the man, or woman, cry in front of the gravestone or coffin. The tears fell like rain to the ground. At least the plants would be happy.

On the right was a dark church. People exited and merely glanced at the closed coffin, closed so nobody would realize that there wasn't a body in it. Closed so people could pretend, just for a moment, that there was a possibility of letting the body rot underground like it was supposed to. The men and women and children exiting the church just went on, believing that they, themselves, were immune to the tragedies of life.

Eiji moved under a tree, into the cool shade and protected from the blazing Fall sun. It was always hot in Kanoha. Even the Winters never fell below 17 degrees Celsius. The shade made it bearable. Eiji turned his eyes over to the crowd of 34, slightly larger than the usual crowd. The celebration of death was headed by an unimportant messenger of god, the man wearing black. All black. Everywhere black. Too much black.

"We have gathered here today to mourn" yeah. Mourn. What a pile of bullshit. The people were there to celebrate the passing of this shinobi, and to celebrate the fact that they still had their lives. "-the passing of Hidireki Kofei." Another nameless man. Just more waste thrown and scattered. "We all knew him" did you really know him? Did you ever stop to realize you probably don't even know yourself? "-and loved him. He was always a happy man. He joined the ninja ranks two years ago, where he met his first longtime friend, Ruko Hiashigura. They…"

Eiji didn't stay to hear any more. He didn't see the point of listening to any more. It wasn't sad, and hadn't been for hundreds of years. He did it to remember. Every time, he only does it do remember. It was to think about his mother and father. Lily and James Potter. Every time he saw a funeral, he imagined those two being stuffed in the casket. He would dream about watching them get buried into a maggot filled hole. He wished he could put closure to their lives.

The sun was as bright as ever. The street burned through the sandals Eiji wore, right into his feet. Eiji strode forwards at a languid pace, sluggish motions following every movement. If anybody saw him, they would say he looked bored. Bored in the face of misery.

It was ten minutes. Ten minutes of struggling along the beaten black path. He came upon a red and blue building, black of the darkest pith outlining it with accents and patterns. The dark shadows jumped out with intensity. On the third story, a sign sat with rounded top and lonely appearance. It read "Shin Goku Academy."

It was one of the two current ninja academies in the village. It was one of high prestige and standing. It was the one that the wealthy went to, to be taught by first class instructors. It was where children learned how to kill. It was where kids made friends, only to lose them shortly after. Kids were hired murderers in this world, and then blamed others for their losses. What a world.

The doors opened up, throwing more shadows across the courtyard. Eiji stepped in through the doors, letting his body cool off as he walked through the colorful halls that made up the school. Classrooms passed on either side. A training room fell on the right, halfway up the aisle. Other children, too young to understand, trotted around talking with their friends and neighbors. Eiji ignored the young kids. They were infinitely too young to understand anything.

He dodged into the side classroom as soon as he found the right one. A large number, 67, was printed onto the upper part of the light brown door. The hinges creaked as the door swung open, showing other children, all a couple years older than him. Some parents hung around, offering support to their children on the first day of the academy. These kids were starting their careers as cold-blooded killers. All were seven years old. One was eight. All had a shining light in their eyes, glowing white hot with the intensity of innocence. All which would certainly be blotted out, eclipsed by the sprouting hell that came from being a shinobi.

The classroom itself was incensed. The smell of sand and the ocean washed over Eiji. It was relaxing. Eiji's tenseness washed away inevitably, leaving only a calm and neutral expression on his face in place of the bored one.

As Eiji stepped into the room, many eyes turned to him. They were all slightly taller than him, but with their mentality, that meant nothing. It was just another person to play with. It was another friend to make. Another bond to create. Soon, the few that took the time to glance at him turned away and went back to their menial conversations. Some parents looked towards Eiji with either questioning or appraising looks. It was just like the Hokage to have his nephew start the Academy early. Strength always comes first when it means the betterment of the village.

Eiji took one of the seats scattered about. It was next to one of the rambunctious ones. The kid didn't even realize Eiji had taken a seat next to him, so wrapped up in telling the other student about how his father was able to take out an entire legion of Iwa ninja while protecting a small village.

Some other kids trickled in, unimportant in every way to everything. Eiji looked around the now-full classroom, observing what he would have to deal with for the next few years. The lack of potential was understandable. The lack of seriousness was, also. There was nothing. The only quiet kid was some kid with black hair. He had his head leaning on one arm, looking tired. Almost like he didn't want to be there at the moment. There was an obnoxiously loud girl with short blue hair jumping up and down. She looked very important. The last person that caught Eiji's attention was a raging brown-haired child, screaming at some kid for being an asshole. The kid that was being screamed at was obviously an Uchiha.

It took only a moment for the instructor to walk in, his longer brown hair flowing lazily behind him. A scar was gouged into his chin. He had an uneven beard, covering almost the entirety of his face but skipping over the scar tissue. He wore a barret on his head, creating an auspicious and comedic image. A smile adorned his face, going all the way to his twinkling green eyes. The man wore the standard green chunin vest with several pockets, overtop of brown shirt and pants. When the man opened his mouth to speak, he was missing several teeth.

"Good morning class!" The adults in the room moved to quiet their kids, and then left. "I'm Ikaru Izuka, and I'll be your sensei for the next year. I'll be in charge of helping you all draw out your chakra and use it. I'll be teaching you how to use it, and the theory behind it, and the history of it. I hope we have a good year."

Most of the speech went over the other kids' heads. All they heard was 'chakra,' and 'use it.' Half the class started the scream and cheer. Some demanded to be taught right away. One ran around yelling about how he will "Save some princesses and become awesome." The quiet one from before dropped his head onto the table in front of him, holding his ears. Eiji sighed in dismay.

The instructor, Ikaru-sensei, started calling out some names. The psychological technique quieted the class down almost immediately. When everyone took their seats once more, one kid, a redhead, had the audacity to point to Ikaru's face and ask "What's that?"

The sensei looked confused for several moments, wondering what the kid was talking about. The quiet kid from before responded. "It's a beard. What did you think it was? The Hokage Mountain?"

"What does the Hokage Mountain have to do with anything?" The redheaded kid asked.

"Never mind." It was to be expected. Kids have no sense of humor, except for laughing at the pain of others. Or sarcasm.

Eiji watched the transaction, up until the end. At least one person had some sensibility or knowledge.

Ikaru-sensei picked up a paper and sighed. "It looks like everybody is here, but just to make sure… Akiba Hanisaka." There was an answer of here. "Shanani Kabitsu." Another. The list went on. The loud blue-haired girl was apparently a Huuga. Dora Huuga. The brown-haired child that was getting in a scuffle with the Uchiha was Hiruzen Sarutobi. The Uchiha was named Zephir Uchiha. The black-haired quiet one was named Kurosu Yami-Godai.

When it got to his name, some people turned towards him. Not many people knew about him, but rather his 'father' and 'uncle.' The chunin instructor stopped briefly to vocalize a "Greetings to you Honorable Heir." It was disgusting, but Eiji ignored it. The Uchiha sent a glare in his direction. The Huuga girl looked on at Eiji with admiration. The kid, Sarutobi, also glared at him.

Class started soon enough. It was introductions. It was pointlessness on a stick. Everybody screamed and had fun, all reveling in the joy of having friends. When the teacher asked if Eiji was going to join in, Eiji gave an explicit "No." The teacher asked Kurosu the same thing, and Kurosu answered the same. The teacher forced the boy to participate.

The next class was the same as the first. It was projectile aiming and the math that went into it. The third class was sparring and taijutsu. Eiji had all of the classes with the same people. Those were the three classes involved at the very basic level, made for first years. They were the essentials. Reading and writing came as part of chakra study. History was unimportant, but would be learned briefly in taijutsu until the following year when it became a class.

At the end of the three classes, an hour and a half each, Eiji found himself the first to walk out of the classroom. It was pointless. The meaninglessness of the day was almost overpowering. It made Eiji want to just go to sleep and not do anything else. So, when it ended, Eiji left to get some actual work done.

Because of the split between physical and spiritual power, Eiji was able to cheat a little with physical growth. What he did, was instead of using the usual method of weights and training, he used his control to spread the physical energy through his body and rip his muscles apart, regenerate them, then condense them. Repeat once, then twice, then keep going until Eiji was as strong as he was allowed to be with the limited power he had. His strength, speed, and stamina were above Kage level. Not that anyone needed to know that.

So, that wasn't the work he needed to get done. What he was doing was plotting the Biju running around the elemental countries. They needed to be found and reabsorbed as soon as possible. Harry had only succeeded in discovering that the Kyuubi was sealed inside Mito Uzumaki, and Eiji had no safe method of getting it out until she died. But, Eiji's sensing abilities were getting better and more accurate. It was only a matter of time before the rest were found. Reading official documents and reports helped, too, with finding any unexpected beasts roaming around with multiple tails.

Eiji was so far away from his goal. Why was it so far away?

* * *

When a person faces the inevitable, they meet it one of two ways. They meet it with screams of horror and agony, or they meet it with happiness and smile the whole way. The second kind were so painful to look at. It was sad how they turned around and smiled next to a dying man. It was worse when the dying man smiled, ready to die. Eiji didn't understand it. He couldn't understand how people can act so happy in the face of death.

Eiji stepped into his house, aware of the eyes that landed on him. There was a great big smile. The smell of expensive perfume mixed with the bright red cherry lips. Mito looked lovingly at Eiji, who ignored her as best he could. He didn't make eye contact. He walked around her, up the stairs, and past the room Hashirama was situated in. Eiji tried not to think about it. Thinking about it brought him pain- not because he cared so much anymore, no. He forced himself to stop caring. It brought him pain how Hashirama and Mito kept smiling. How Hashirama always said, "It will be okay. Everything will be okay." It hurt how Mito would nod and smile. How they would laugh and live, even through all of the pain. It hurt to watch. It hurt to think about it.

Eiji moved to his room, ignoring the pained coughing from the next room. He opened the door and slipped into the darkness, turning his mind to another topic. The only other topic he dared think about. Regaining his power.

As soon as the door shut, lights turned on revealing a soft green room. Green was a neutral color, chosen so he wouldn't get too comfortable, but wasn't edgy, either. Red created tenseness and blue created calmness, psychologically. It was all for a reason. A maple desk sat at one side, and a bed was at the other. A simple chair, wooden and uncusioned, was pushed askew near the desk. Papers covered the desk. A blue rug, for a calming effect when he did need it, covered the area in the middle of the room. It was where he had lived for the last six years.

Eiji moved his chair out and sat at the desk. The papers looked to hold gibberish and random letters or syllables. Eiji could read them, though. The centermost one, and the one Eiji was currently reading, was titled "Mission 4.53AXL SR WACOU." The first stanza was a category marker and place holder to determine each separate mission. The second part, in this case the SR, was the general rank and specific rank. The S was for 'S rank' while the R stood for 'recon.' The last part, WACOU, was the location that the mission took place in. Water Country. It was a secured document, only for the eyes of the Hokage. Eiji just happens to know where all of the undisclosed reports and forms are, and how to get them.

The document was a regular mission statement, full of exact and calculated observations. The mission was a recon mission, as stated, entailing gathering information on Mizugakura. It was mostly a count of the army and navy, as well as predicting their movements. The spy that was stationed there was being watched, acclaimed as a suspicious character that disappeared at invaluable points in time. As such, she, Kairi Nanake, wasn't able to meet with the initial recon group. Near the end of the paper, though, about twenty six pages in, was finally something important.

'_There was no direct interference on our journey back. The only disturbance was an earthquake, possibly of the 5__th__ magnitude, striking back near water country. There was a faint outline of a turtle, but it is unclear. The turtle was only seen through the tidal wave headed away from our destination. There was a night spent in Ogari, spent to recover. Nothing was…'_

Eiji stopped reading. He got what he wanted. The turtle was definitely the 'Sanbi' as the people now called it. Eiji had finally discovered another piece of his power. He smiled, the first time in probably weeks, and put the papers to the side. Eiji looked at the time. Three hours had gone by. Of course, he had a sharingan, but the instant memorization and computation of everything seen can create a major migraine when focusing intently for several hours. Each page took a minute to fully compute, and twenty six pages took twenty six minutes. He can't just blur his vision cycling through pages or there could be something he missed, making the brain interpret the message very differently. That was bad. Plus, it was annoying to know everything about everything. Who the hell needs to know half the stuff that went on in those documents?

Eiji moved towards the next stack of papers. He was about to pick them up when he heard voices through the wall.

"How are you feeling?" It was Mito.

"Don't worry. I'm fine." Hashirama's weak voice cut through the deep wall.

Eiji could almost feel the light smile on Mito's face. He tried to ignore the voices coming through the wall. He tried to read the first line on the report titled 4.75XTM AA IRCOU.

"I'm glad you're feeling well. Is there anything I can get you?"

The weak voice came back as a whisper through the wall. "No, thank you. Could you tell me how Eiji's _cough _doing?" A coughing fit followed shortly after.

"Are you sure you don't want a glass of water?"

"Yes. I'll be alright. I've been alright, and I will stay alright even without a glass of water."

Mito's voice shifted to a lighter tone. "Yes, I know."

Eiji felt a tear leave his eye. It was so painful. He couldn't understand it; why were they so happy? How do they understand each other so much that they simply smile and move on? Eiji just wanted to know so badly why life was the way it was. Death was looming over the bed, and Hashirama smiled and said "I'm fine. I'll be okay." Why? Why was it so painful to Eiji? Nothing was this painful since Akai. Then why?

It was like they simply gave up. They stopped thinking about it, somehow. They learned to ignore it and get used to it. They did something that, for Eiji, was impossible. They did something that Eiji wanted to do. But he could never forget the pain, no matter how much he tried. He could numb himself to it, to a certain point. He could forget their faces for a time. He could even forget their names. But he never forgot the pain.

Eiji stood up and left his room. He walked down the hall, towards the stairs, passing the open door to Hashirama's room. He tried not to look, like he had gotten used to. He had trained himself not to look, in fear that he would remember how to care. After the first time, he promised to never see the Akai smile ever again. It was just too painful. It was deadly. Eiji was sure that if he looked into the room and saw that smile on the broken form of Hashirama Senju, he would fall to the floor and cry tears of blood. That smile didn't belong on such an heartrending scene.

Mito continued. "Eiji is doing fine. He learns fast, and I think he's already learned how to use chakra. He's such a smart boy."

"I'm glad he's doing so well. Is he happy?" The voice croaked, scratchy and stiff as it escaped the hoarse throat. Hoarse from coughing. He coughed some more.

"Try not to get blood on the covers! I just washed them!" It sounded like normal conversation. It _was _normal conversation.

"Sorry, sorry. I'll try not to drown the covers again. Is he happy?"

Eiji stopped at the top of the stairs to listen to the answer.

"…I don't know."

Eiji almost laughed despite himself. Some tears left his eyes, just thinking about what was happening in that room. He could imagine a smile on Mito's warm lips, and another cold-as-ice one that glowed a soft, happy glow on Hashirama's. Eiji sat down on the top step, resting one hand on his head. His soft hair, a dark gray in color, feathered out in between his fingers. The hallway seemed too tight for some reason. The ceiling was too high, too, Eiji decided. The steps were like cliffs. Soft whispering of condolences echoed about the hallway. If Eiji paid attention, he would have noticed that they came from himself.

Hashirama spoke up again. "He hasn't come into this room in two years. I haven't seen him in two years."

A sob escaped Eiji's lips. Why did he still care so much?"

"Do you want me to get him?" Mito asked.

"No. He probably doesn't want to see me like this. Don't make him. Let him keep the image he has of me with him forever. There's no need for him to see me the way I am now. It'll only hurt him."

Eiji stood up and ran out of the mansion. He ran, holding his arm to his face to soak up the tears. He ran into the woods at the back of the house and collapsed at the trunk of a tree and wept and cried. He fell asleep there, crying. It was one of the best sleeps he ever had.

* * *

When Eiji woke up, he woke up to the sound of tropical birds and crushed leaves. Around him slept two wolves and a fox. Several birds hung from the branches above. Animals liked him for some reason. He would have thought it had to do with his animagus is it were only wolves, but it was animals in general. He had no real explanation. Around him, though, were sprouting flowers of many shades. Flowers that weren't there previously. While Eiji had some limited control over the elements, it all revolved around the channeling of chakra like everybody else did in the Elemental Nations. He couldn't use elements subconsciously other than wind, water, and gravity. Eiji would wonder how the flowers got there and their significance for several more days before he found out.

It was the second day of the academy. Based on the position of the sun, the academy would start thirty minutes. That gave him enough time to stop and take a look at the funeral of a man named Tojo Coda. Enough time to forget once again.

* * *

Eiji stepped through the classroom doors just as the instructor began to take roll of the students. It was the first day of actual chakra theory and history of chakra. It was the first important day to show off and advance through the ranks as fast as he could. He needed his power back. That took first priority over everything else. Everything.

Roll call was soon over. Ikaru took a second to look over his class, a smile on his face. His ridiculous beard was pulled into a ponytail, creating hilarious image. Some of the kids picked up on it and started making really… really… REALLY bad jokes about it. The kid, Kurasu, dropped his head on the platform in front of him. Dora started to look pissed off at the lack of learning important skills, and Eiji was ready to agree with her anger. It took only a moment of Ikaru's time to make the class silent.

"Now, who here knows what chakra is?" Ikaru asked.

A girl with brown hair, Mira Yamomo, raised her hand first. "The stuff that lets you breathe fire!"

"Close. Close, but not quite right. Any other ideas?"

The girl slouched slightly, but smiled a second later when the girl next to her whispered something in her ear. The two started some conversation, and Eiji was able to catch his name used several times. He didn't like that one bit.

Zephir, the Uchiha, was the next. "It is the energy that flows through every living thing on this planet. It is impossible to live without it. There have been some cases where individuals aren't able to access it, but even they have chakra. Some people call it a physical manifestation of our will, channeled through hand-seals that revolve around the twelve zodiac signs, and sometimes more if that particular person has a bloodline."

"CORRECT! That was the best explanation I've heard in years. For those who didn't understand, chakra is something that is inside everybody. We use symbols made with our hands to move it and make it do what we want." Ikaru seemed very happy to have at least one super bright person in his class. Less work for him. "Now, I'm going to hand you a book. I'll walk around and help everybody while they read, and this book will tell you a little about where chakra first came from."

Ikaru walked around, a stack of half-centimeter thick books with pictures being sent to every desk. The man stepped around some feet bent on tripping him, and dodged over several precariously stacked bags and supplies. Only when he stepped past Hiruzen Sarutobi did he slip and fall on his back. A puddle of water had mysteriously appeared on the ground. Hiruzen was the first to burst out laughing. Several others joined in. Eiji sighed. Zephir snickered quietly. Dora screamed and ran to help the instructor out, but fell in the same puddle the instructor slipped in. When the instructor got to his feet, boy was he surprised to find a little girl ram her head onto his little toe!

As the instructor bounced on one foot, Kurosu could be seen banging his head on the table.

It took another ten minutes for the Ikaru to finally hand a book to Eiji. Eiji picked up the flimsy bundle and glanced at the title. He closed his eyes a second later. Eiji's mouth parted and a slow, drawling chuckle escaped it. The chuckle turned into a full laugh as he turned the book over and slammed the cover into the table. Eiji held his sides from the pain. It had been years since he had actually laughed, but he couldn't take it. He couldn't hold his laughter on this. He doubled over onto the floor as the class watched him oddly. The instructor had a concerned look on his face, but other than that ignored it, thinking it was a kid thing. It took a second for Eiji to finally calm down, deep chuckles escaping his lips still.

"I can't believe it. The History of Chakra and the Sage of Six Paths." Eiji started to laugh again, but only quietly. The rest of the class had turned back to the books, and the teacher was walking around. Eiji turned the book over. The title read _'The History of Chakra and the Sage of Six Paths."_

* * *

It was the end of class when a chance arrived. The instructor was doing a chakra demonstration. He was explaining the possibilities chakra allowed. He had told some stories about the creative ways chakra was used and how it saved many people's lives. The story of a veteran shinobi using wall-walking to keep himself from falling off of a cliff. The story of a kunoichi using genjutsu to distract an army to save her comrades in arms. The list went on.

"…and that's the end. As you can see, chakra is very important to any shinobi. It will save your lives countless times. Use it wisely, and you will win every battle and challenge you face. With chakra, you can do this," He stepped onto the wall and stuck, wowing the crowd. "And you can do this." He did three hand-signs and a fire lit up on his hand. "Be careful, though, or you might hurt your friends and even yourself. Don't try anything without a proper teacher around."

"Do something like this, you mean?" Eiji asked. Eiji was hanging from the wall with his feet, a fire lit in his hand. The class spun around, probably more than a few getting whiplash. Three screamed, startled at the apparent location of Eiji. Ikaru stared, eyes widened for a moment in apparent shock. The man regained his composure fast enough, though, and applauded.

"I don't know how you got over there so fast, and I don't care, because you've just accomplished something that most fifth-year students have trouble with. Especially with such large chakra reserves! I've never seen something like this done so fast! You really are the prodigy son of the first Hokage."

Eiji smirked slightly, feeling accomplished for completing part of his first objective: Wowing his academy instructor. Next was showing off to such an extent that he would get placed in a higher-ranked class.

"We need to get you to a higher class. Even at your age, two years younger than the rest of the class, you've already surpassed them! Marvelous!"

…Or not.

"But… no… wait… Oh, forget it! Class is over. I'm going to taijutsu." Eiji stormed off with some disappointment clearly evident on his face. Of course the man would recommend him for a higher level of learning. Even if Eiji didn't do well the man would bow to Eiji's will at the drop of a hat. But, Eiji should have expected it. It didn't make it any less disappointing, though, at the lack of effort it took for his plans to be made real.

Eiji stormed out of the room. The class sat there, staring at the kid that outshone them so magnificently. The instructor was grinning widely. It took the entrance of the next class to snap the sensei out of it enough to dismiss the rest of the kids. They stumbled to the taijutsu class, trying to figure out a way to surpass the genius not seen since the first Hokage. And that was all stipulation.

Zephir had a calculating eye as he left. Dora smiled brightly, wanting Eiji for herself. All for herself. Hiruzen was plotting. Kurosu had a hopeful smile. One that was filled with nervousness, but hope. Hope for the future and hope for greatness.

When they all made it into the classroom, they saw Eiji sitting at the desk staring intently forwards. He looked like he was glaring at the back wall. The back wall, covered in posters that were made to encourage teamwork and friendship. The Will of Fire. The burning passion to help those in need and protect things precious to them.

The class took their seats and waited. The wait strained on them. Some stood up and walked around after a moment, finding their friends to talk to about mindless nothing. It got louder every second. It grated on Eiji's nerves, tearing them asunder. Just when Eiji was ready to leave and destroy something, the instructor walked in. He stood at the front of the class, blond hair and blue eyes staring out in annoyance. No facial hair and no scars marred his face. He was very clean cut. He was probably rich, but not rich enough.

"Quiet down, class." No response. "I said SHUT UP!" The class quieted down almost immediately. One gasped and exclaimed "You said a bad word!"

Eiji wanted to hit his face. Where the fuck did these kids get taught? A bad word? Really?

"You are in my class and you will follow my rules. If you don't like it, then leave. Understand?"

Nobody moved. It was dead quiet. Eiji wanted to smirk. He refrained.

The instructor, Zuko Gevelin, continued. "Today we will go outside where I can test you on what you know, and more specifically, what you don't. I need a place to start your instruction before I can teach you anything. Let's go. We're going to Academy training field 3."

Zuko started walking towards the door. The class followed quietly. The previous day when a kid decided to talk out of turn, Zuko had threatened, and almost carried out, the act of breaking the child's teeth out. 'You don't need teeth to fight.'

They stepped out onto a square field with a central platform raised above everything else. It was for personal spars, or one-on-one. The grassy field was completely empty other than that, surrounded by a large white wall. They surrounded the raised stage, as per instructions. Many looked on in fear, some in trepidation. Sarutobi looked unsure.

Eiji kept his eyes locked onto the form of Zuko as the instructor stepped up onto the stage. Zuko's heavy green suit stretched with each movement. The man came to a rest at the front of the class. His position at the stage, towering over everybody else, made an oppressive image.

"These will be taijutsu only matches. I do not want to see any weapons, or, if you're able, any chakra. You will fight to the best of your ability until I call the match. Understood?" The man said understood too much. "When I call your name, take your place in the box I assign you. Don't move until I say to. I encourage you to hit each other, and not to hold back. Understood? Now, Shanani Kabutsu and Tobi Kibaru, take the blue and red boxes respectively."

Neither moved. One threw a confused look at the instructor.

"Shanani, go to the blue box! Tobi, go to the red!" the instructor yelled.

The two scrambled to get to their places, Tobi tripped and fell once, about halfway there. Hiruzen and a giant smile on his face for some reason…

Shanani was the first to take her place. She stood there with a defiant look on her face. She looked like she refused to lose. She green-streaked brown hair blew slightly. Her deep ocean blue eyes narrowed as she watched her opponent step up onto the stage. Tobi looked very relaxed. He didn't have a care in the world. Tobi's back was slouched, and the hood he wore over his face completely blocked out any identity of his features.

Shanani rushed forwards and threw a punch. Tobi moved out of the way so fast that even the instructor missed it. Everybody was gob-smacked. There should be no was a child should be able to move that fast. Even Eiji found himself to be reevaluating his entire class. Tobi was different. Tobi was strange. Tobi was… very, very fast.

"Tobi is a good boy. Why do you punch at Tobi?" Eiji smirked. This clueless kid might be of some use to him.

This really got the girl pissed. Shanani turned to throw another sloppy punch, but Tobi moved to the side again. The girl kept punching. Tobi kept moving. It took thirty seconds for the girl to have to stop to catch her breath. Tobi was about flick her when Zuko called the match.

"Shanani, you need work. You're form is horrible and your movements are weak. It's no more than I expected, but now I know how to work with you. Tobi, good job. You surprised me with your speed. But, I didn't see enough to get a proper view of your skills. We'll work with what I have. Next up, Zephir Uchiha and Kuichi Teruki." The matches continued.

"Ebiru Hikiri and Huruka Umino."

"Hiruzen Sarutobi and Shibuki Aburame."

"Sufaru Huuga and Rukogi Uchiha."

"Dora Huuga and Mira Yamomo." Mira won that one. It wasn't that much of a surprise, though.

"Akiba Hanisaka and Eredou Kunuharu."

"Lastly, I would like to call up Eiji Senju and… oh, you're going to have an easy time, Eiji. The other participant is Kurosu Yami-Godai."

Eiji stood up on the stage, ready to show off. He was a bit put-off by the statement 'easy time,' because one of the few that interested him was, apparently, nothing special. Kurosu walked, slouched and with a frown. His eyes were slightly cast downward, not allowing anybody to see them. His pace was sluggish and wobbly. The boy did end up making it to the platform, much to the teacher's great relief. Last time there was a spar, the boy refused to even participate.

The two looked at each other. Kurosu looked up just enough for Eiji to see his eyes. Yellow eyes, like a cat but brighter, with a black background. The pupils of each eyes were slightly oval, like caught in between human and animal. The white of his eye was pitch black. Kurosu's mouth worked into a frown. The boy's eyes were quickly shadowed once again. The black hair was straight, and fell over his forehead just enough to put a darkness over his eyes. The boy wore a simple t-shirt and blue slacks. He also looked thin.

Zuko called the start of the match. Eiji waited for Kurosu to make a move. Kurosu didn't move. A full thirty seconds in, Eiji took the initiative and ran forwards at what could be considered genin speeds. Faster than an academy student, but slow enough that he blurred only slightly to the chunin. Eiji threw a punch, which Kurosu only had time to duck slightly to the side to dodge. Eiji threw the follow up spin kick, pulling himself into the academy style that was taught.

The kick connected, sending Kurosu into the ground. Eiji waited for the boy to get up. Kurosu took that opportunity to try and get a shot into Eiji's gut, which Eiji caught in his hand. That punch… was pathetic. It was weaker than what he'd seen the other fist year graduates throw. It was just utterly useless. It wouldn't do anything to a trained shinobi. It probably wouldn't do anything to one of the other graduates.

Eiji's hope in this child was all but lost. It was important to get comrades, but Eiji followed the rule "One strong ally is worth a thousand weak ones." This boy would not do. One last punch, and Kurosu was on the ground, unconscious. It was pathetic.

There was some clapping from Zuko, above the talking of the rest of the class. "Bravo. That was very good. You displayed above average speed, strength, and you showed a decent knowledge of the academy style. Did your mother or uncle teach you? It was very good. The only thing I can recommend to you is work on the style some more. You showed a stiffness while doing the movements, a lot like I've seen Uchiha show with copied movements." The instructor jumped right up next to Eiji and stared into the boy's 'brown' eyes. "You're not an Uchiha… are you…?"

Eiji stiffened, an almost imperceptive amount. Zuko didn't seem to notice. The rest of the class had their eyes locked onto the two standing members of the stage. Nobody realized the magnitude of the exclamation. Nobody except Zuko and Eiji.

Seconds later, Zuko burst out laughing. "I-I'm just joking! Did you actually believe that I thought you were an Uchiha?" He kept laughing. It seemed so out of character from what the class saw of Zuko. They didn't know what to do. One of the girls stumbled up to the man and whispered "Are you okay Zuko-sensei?" The man just laughed harder. He managed a "Class dismissed" between gasps.

The rest of the class left. Kurosu had woken up with a pounding headache, but made it out of the class. Eiji was the only one left, still staring at Zuko. Zuko stopped laughing as soon as the last person left. He had a serious expression on his face. One that was chiseled out of stone.

"Your uncle told me about your eyes, so I would have an easier time training you. Even without them, you could be considered a prodigy. I'll give you some extra lessons to help you understand them and how to work around their weaknesses. Meet me every week on Saturday after the academy lets out. Understood?"

Eiji looked at the man for only a moment. It would be a boon to be able to show off even more of his skills. He may not have any experience in hand-to-hand fighting, but he was definitely very strong even without the style. He had just managed to pilfer the academy style in his spare time to impress the teachers somewhat. He guessed that it worked. He thought so at least.

"Yes, I understand," Eiji responded.

"Good. Then I'll see you tomorrow during class. Good day."

Eiji nodded and left. 'At least it wasn't as easy as last class' he thought.

* * *

Accuracy and throwing weapons was entirely theory and math that day. One couldn't do anything without having an idea of how hard to throw, what angle to throw at, and an idea of what certain wind speeds did to the accuracy of a kunai or shuriken. Eiji didn't particularly care, because he had built some guns in his spare time and had no real use for the damn weighted pieces of metal. He breezed through, demonstrating insanely advanced knowledge in math as a whole. The teacher promised that Eiji would be done with the academy within a year at this rate. Eiji hoped so. Even if it was too easy for him. He needed a challenge. He needed something to work on to help pass the time. Ever since he got his goal of getting his power back, he had been so impatient. It was odd. Maybe he would study psychology next?

The class was dismissed, and Eiji began his trek through the crowded halls back outside. He had more research to do, and maybe a pastime to create. Life just wasn't fulfilling enough the way it was. Eiji stepped through the door to the outside and began to walk. The students were clearing out, and thinning to a small trickle. He was about to turn off of the street the academy was on when a voice stopped him. It was smooth and low. A baritone. A hint of sadness crept up into it, slightly choked by the apathetic tone. Eiji recognized it.

"Eiji Senju, honored nephew of the second hokage and son of the first. Prodigy the likes of which have not been seen since Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha. I want to know. How?"

Eiji turned around and saw Kurosu. The boy had a steely glint in his odd colored eyes and a neutral expression on his face. "How, what?" Eiji replied.

"How is it that you, a boy two years younger than the rest of the class does so well, when I, who is three years older, can't even access his chakra? How!?"

Eiji's eyes narrowed. "You've failed the graduation to the next level three times? What does that have to do with me?"

"I want to know how you're so good. How are you so good? Is it because you have parents to train you? Did your parents make you this good?"

"No, they didn't. I taught myself. My mother is too busy caring for my father, or have you not heard?"

"Of course I've heard! Five years ago, Hashirama was burned almost to death. He recovered because of his healing techniques, but was left weak and vulnerable. He chose his brother to succeed him and two years he disappeared into his house. He's a recluse!"

"Do you even know what that healing technique did? It let him survive at the cost of part of his life. He's the equivalent of an old, dying man, now. He couldn't train me if he wanted to. So fuck off!"

Eiji didn't know why he was getting so angry. He just was, he guessed. Maybe it was pointless to try to forget. Maybe it was impossible to ignore it. He remembered when he was still in the wizarding world, he would go to the mirror of Erised every day. The old man, whatever his name was now. Dumbledor, he thought. Dumbledor thought that the mirror was hidden securely after the first year, having no more use. Eiji, Harry at that time, found it. He would watch it to see his parents every day. His friends told him to stop dwelling on it, but he never could stop. He had to see them.

Kurosu looked away. "At least you had parents."

"What?" Eiji asked. He thought he heard wrong.

"I'm an orphan. I never knew my parents. You can feel love, at least. I don't know what it is! Nobody has ever cared about me! Nobody!"

Eiji looked at the boy with some pity. "How did you get into this school? It's really expensive."

"I don't know" Kurosu stated. His tone was solemn. "I got a letter one day that said I was paid for and would start soon. I didn't think about it."

The two stood in silence for a while. Eiji was the one that broke the still calm. "What did you come here for?"

Kurosu looked at Eiji with determination. "I want you to train me."

* * *

AN: See? It's really long.

I'm really sorry about the depressing atmosphere to the whole chapter. My cat was just diagnosed with cancer and I needed to do something to get my mind off of it. I channeled my pain into my writing and this is what I came up with. I hope my description of Hiruzen was good, though, and allowed for some comedy relief. It'll stay that way.

Also, I won't focus too much on the academy from here on. If I do, then it's because I want to introduce more characters who will be important in some way or used later on in the story. I'm going to bring at least Ikaru back into the story later, but I'm not sure about Zuko, unless it's more of an antagonistic point of view. Like one of those "I know your secret, so you better not betray this village" sort of deals. I'm not sure. You can leave your ideas in your review, if you want.

Also, for the course and advancement of the plot, there will not be another Harry Potter universe time travel switch for, like, another ten chapters. So don't worry about any confusing plot that just randomly sprouts when I feel like it. And remember: Almost everything I write has some importance and will be used in the future (except maybe characters). Actions always have significance, so pay attention.

Oh, and if you haven't noticed, Eiji has a real problem with forgetting things. He has the tendency to remember the worst things and the most depressing things while forgetting all of the good things. I keep going back to Eiji remembering Lily and James Potter, as well as Akai. I do that on purpose. It's a psychological thing, as well as one of his only weaknesses. It's just who Eiji is. He deals with it by simply forgetting everything, but is reminded so easily just by similar looks or smiles, as seen in Hashirama and Mito. I tried to emphasize this an insanely large amount in this chapter. If you still don't understand it, PM me and we'll talk about it.

I hope it was enjoyable, and now I'm signing off. Benedark.


	10. Let Sarutobi Happen

This chapter is written in a slight 1700s American style overtone, complete with run on sentences, though I kept those shorter; odd sentence structure; constant conjunctions such as 'such as'; and the odd way of people speaking like I made them speak. If I ever do this again, then give me a 'cyber punch to the face.' I really need some sense knocked into me.

I hope it isn't that bad, and I hope that I got some realistic personality transitions and responses. Enjoy the chapter.

* * *

Eiji stood. His stance was frigid and stiff. A completely neutral and stoic expression adorned his face. Hands stopped swaying in a friendly, relaxed manner. Legs stopped shifting in anxiety. Everything about the being was almost lifeless. A puppet on display would have been moving more; expressing more. It didn't have to contemplate and _know._ It didn't have to remember.

Eiji's glacial eyes, which had been so brown but seemed to refuse and become a pale blue, narrowed even more. They strode up towards the _child_ asking for Eiji's help. Those eyes, their unmatched blue turning even more silver, looked into the voids of Kurosu's. Illusions were commonly influenced by emotions, so the color change wouldn't have been surprising if Eiji had seen it himself. Wind blew. The earth churned.

"No."

It was a simple word. Two letters and one syllable. Quotation marks stood on each side. A period followed it. Eiji spoke it. It was so simple. But it was also so complicated.

It held everything for Kurosu. It held hopes and dreams. It held his world. And that world had shattered. Crushed into tiny pieces like glass. And those pieces were held by Eiji. It was the litter and garbage that Eiji would try to throw away, but couldn't. It would follow him.

Kurosu looked down. Tears threatened to fall, but the boy refused to let them. Instead, Kurosu looked up very suddenly with a large smile on his face. It looked so real, yet so pained. It had imperfections. The lack of creases. The dull shine in his void eyes, like tears. The almost unnoticeable quiver in the boy's chin.

"That's okay!" Kurosu called out. "I don't think being a ninja would be very good for me anyways. Thanks for talking!"

Even the voice was masterfully overtoned with happiness. There was only the single flaw of a crack after the word "Ninja." Nobody else would have even noticed without knowing the boy would be crushed.

Kurosu turned away. "I have to go. Sorry for wasting your time." The inflections in the voice were softer. Not overflowing with happiness, but not giving anything of sadness away, either. It refused to give away even the thought of sadness.

The boy left at a quick gait. One foot moved in front of the other, and then repeated. It did not look like a boy who had lost his dream, rather one who had somewhere important to go. It was almost agonizing to watch. Eiji killed what sympathy he had for the boy as soon as it made itself known.

Eiji turned his way and went home with his own quick pace. He had nothing else to do there. Amen.

* * *

There were no funerals scheduled for the next day. No cremations, and surprisingly no deaths would be noted. It was one of those rare days were everybody was happy. There was no pain. There was no mourning. The sun was shining brightly and a cool breeze flitted through the village, cooling off the surprisingly hot day. It was as perfect as a day could get.

When Eiji stepped out into the day, he cracked a small smile. He let the beauty wash all of his troubles away. The sun shown with a gratifying radiance. The wind caressed him. Eiji walked with a straight posture instead of the lazy slump he was usually seen with. Shoulders hung back and one foot stepped straight in front of the other. If a person didn't know any better, Eiji would be seen as a man walking with a purpose. Maybe he did have a purpose. He was walking to the academy, after all.

Eiji walked into his morning class with a measured gait. His eyes glowed slightly with freedom. His posture was straight and defined. It was today that he would go up four grade levels. He could see it in the sky (inside joke, sorry.). He could read it in the grass. Eiji could feel the simple break of overbearing responsibility. (He also read his instructor's mind, but that's beside the point).

The class was unnaturally loud, though that wasn't saying much. The entire class was in disarray. It wasn't the usual 'talk until the sensei gets pissed.' It was like the world turned against Ikaru in a fashionably painful way, if the teacher was there. But it wasn't malevolent. It was a knowing and gratifying experience. Everybody was happy. Everybody was joyful. It was like the whole world was celebrating an unknown event.

That's what Eiji walked into. His own happiness expanded. The energy flowing off of him, tinged with joy, flooded the room with such rampant and generous emotions as to create a euphoria experienced by everyone. Everybody expressed their apparent joy in their own way.

Zephir actually smiled. There was no smirk or calculating gaze adorning him. It was simple happiness. Dora decided it was of a greater pleasure to indulge in her own happiness than stare longingly at Eiji. Shanani Kabutsu settled for braiding her hair with a loving, bordering horny, smile (And what a picture that makes… now I have to burn my eyes out…). Tobi was laughing more than anyone thought capable of a human being. Hiruzen set a tack on the teacher's chair, slipped a bucket of ice-water over the door, took a student's seat out from under him, changed the clock to an hour fast, replaced the chakra study books with his father's porn collection, stuck worms in Zephir's lunch while mumbling something about "arrogant bastards deserving it," and was about to tepee the teacher's desk when the door opened.

The bucket fell onto Ikaru-sensei, dropping him to the ground as he slipped on the wet floor. There was a subtle crash as he slowed himself down enough not to get hurt. The class stood silent for several seconds. And then:

"God dammit! I got an ice cube up my nose!"

And the class burst out laughing. Two students thought it prudent to stand up and run around the classroom screaming with laughter. The noise was deafening, but quieted down fast enough, once Ikaru got up and pulled the bucket off of his head.

The man had a glare on his face, but only for a moment. The sheer happiness building in the room forced him to see only the brightness of the day and the world. The beauty of love and of life overflowed. It was so overpowering that Ikaru didn't notice the tack on his chair when he sat down…

"Ow! Shit!" Ikaru closed his eyes and took a deep breath as he reached down to his posterior and plucked the sharp needle out. "I know you all like your fun, and I like to have fun sometimes, too. But please, leave me out of it if it involves needles and iced water."

There was some laughing, mainly from Hiruzen, but it was small. Everything quieted down as soon as Ikaru called the class to order. Then, as always, the roll call started.

"…Hiruzen Saruto…bi… What are you doing with that toilet paper?"

Hiruzen gave a nervous laugh, then said "Nothing…" with an innocent look on his face.

"Never mind…" and the instructor simply sighed and continued the roll call. There were no interruptions until the name came to "Eiji Senju.

"You have shown superior skills, surpassing possibly even some gennin. You are incredibly smart and seem to be calm enough to pass as a shinobi, if it weren't for your age. You are a prodigy with no equal. I am proud to announce your advancement to fifth year curriculum. You will graduate at the end of this year if you keep up what you're doing. You will meet in the next room over to the right tomorrow morning."

Ikaru looked ecstatic. He glowed with happiness and thoughts of fame for knowing such a prodigy. Eiji rubbed his head in slight annoyance, but let it drop. It was better to have people worship you than hate you. It would get him farther, faster.

"Eredou Kunuharu,"

"Here."

"Zephir Uchiha."

"Here."

"Zephir, you are also getting promoted to second year. You have shown great discipline and some advanced skills. You're not very well-rounded, but you can work on that with your new instructor. It was good knowing you, and I hope you had a good time with me as your instructor."

"Kurosu Yami-Godai."

No answer.

"Kurosu?" The instructor looked around the room. There was no Kurosu. No child with void-like eyes. "I guess he's not here today. I guess it's a good thing. Maybe he finally got it into his head that he's not fit to be a shinobi."

The class began. The instructor had a chalkboard in the front of the room, and he was explaining what would happen in the process of unlocking their chakra. He talked about how it was done a long time ago, and how it had changed to the way it was then. Ikaru went into a boring drone. His voice carried to the walls and reflected, making a slight echo. But Eiji didn't pay attention.

Eiji was busy staring at the seat Kurosu had sat in the last two days. The one empty chair in the entire class. Eiji felt awful for ruining such a child's dream. It was evil to do such a thing to a mere child of eight years old. A child that acted so much older than he should. A child who believed that he, Eiji, would help him. A belief that led to the destruction of what Kurosu wanted most.

It pained him. It brought back memories of Harry Potter. It made him think about how Harry had friends and people to help him as he pushed to complete his dream. Harry always had people encouraging him and backing him up. Harry had everything he needed. He had the tools, the methods, the manipulations of an old man to guide him through every crevice and valley. It led him all the way to the precipice of life.

But, Kurosu didn't have any of that. Kurosu was alone and weak. Now he didn't have a dream anymore, either. Kurosu was now a simple soul wandering the streets to find some sort of condolence where there were none. Eiji could remember the look in Kurosu's eyes the other day. How they tried to hide the pain and anguish. Eiji felt the need to fall to the ground and cry for the boy. Eiji steeled himself, instead, and blocked the memory out like he had done with so many.

Eiji turned his attention back to the droning, forgetting about Kurosu to the extent he could. The memories and thoughts scratched at his mind. Pennies dropped into his brain. A small 'clitter-clatter' as the copper rang against his skull. It was painful, but Eiji repressed it. He ignored it in favor of ignorance.

The teacher, Ikaru, walked over to the bookshelves to pass out the historical readings. Hiruzen thought it appropriate to snicker readily. Eiji could feel the sense of dread befalling Ikaru as the man slipped a single book out and stared at the cover. It looked just like a history book detailing the history of botany, written by the first Hokage. It even had a tree carved stylistically into the cover and a green background.

"What's this? How'd this get here?" the instructor asked himself. Ikaru's curiosity spiked. He had never seen a book like this, but it had to be important. It was written by the first! So, without any forewarning, he pulled the cover open, and a drop of blood ran out of his nose.

By this point, the man was shaking slightly. Fear of what would come in the following pages spiked through him. Ikaru placed a shaking hand on the corner of the page and started to turn it. A bead of sweat dripped down his chin. The page turned. Ikaru stared.

And stared.

And stared.

One second…

Two…

Three…

"AHHHHHH!" Ikaru screamed. A gyser of blood gushed out of his nose, painting the back wall red. The whole class watched in shocked silence as their instructor fell unconscious onto the floor. He lay in his own pool of blood, the book lying on top of his face. Only his mouth was visible. The lips were twisted into the largest and most terrifying smile any of the children had ever witnessed.

One student, a girl named Huruka Umino, had the intense urge to kick the man in the balls. She would have if she weren't so afraid of his apparent death.

Dora moved over to the teacher. "Ikaru-sensei? Ikaru-sensei! Don't die! Don't die on us! We need you to teach us how to become really cool ninja!"

A crowd gathered around the man's body. There were murmers. "Is he dead?" "I don't know." "Somebody do something!" "Do what?" "I want my mommy!" "I'm hungry…"

Eiji stared in shock at what happened. "How… the… fuck… is that humanly possible…?" It was just so unreal! How does someone lose that much blood and still live!? Actually, a better question would be: What the fuck happened in the first place!?

Akiba Hanisaka, a curious boy, picked up the book, wondering what was on it. Some students moved behind the boy to get a better look, wondering what could defeat their awesome sensei like that. Akiba turned the book around so the inside was facing him, and stared.

And stared.

And let his face turn into a curious twist of understanding and confusion. Then he pointed his finger up in the air like he had found the meaning of life.

"I know why he's like that. Look."

Akiba turned the book towards everybody. Eiji snapped out of his pondering to take a look at the book, and immediately slammed his head onto the table with a gravelly sigh of despair.

Akiba continued. "You see this?"

One other student in the class voiced their thoughts. "There's nothing there. What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means that sensei was so shocked that there was nothing to teach that he fell asleep!"

The class as a whole nodded their heads in understanding. "That makes so much sense!" cried little Eredou Kunuharu.

Nobody noticed Eiji hitting his head on the table, trying to block stupidity out of his life.

* * *

It was the next day. Clouds were high in the sky, and it was expected to rain. Fire country was nearing the rainy and monsoon season. Everywhere else it would be getting colder, and snow would fall. If anything, Konoha was getting hotter. The heat brought in monsoons, preventing much sea travel in the area's ports until wayward monsoon season. That wasn't for another several months. But, people usually took this time to return home, bringing valuable artifacts and gems to trade from exotic countries.

Eiji grabbed his fifth year supplies. A pack of shuriken, a pack of kunai, and some textbooks. It was Saturday, so classes wouldn't be very long. After that, he would have his training with Zuko, as well as give that asshole a reason not to be an idiot. It would be revenge for almost revealing his eyes as a joke to the class. Overall, it would be an accomplishing day.

He left early like he usually did, and caught a funeral on the way. It was the very end of one, held early like many usually are, so not to cut into mission time for shinobi. This one was held outside of a 'Kashesu' religious institution. It was a religion which honored Susano'o, Amaterasu, and Tsukuyomi as the bringers of light and darkness. Surprisingly, it was the main religion of the Uchiha clan. Eiji wouldn't have believed it if he hadn't seen it.

For his fifth year class, the Chakra instructor was Eribusou Yakumashino. The man was interesting enough. He was funny and allowed enough personality to pass through his actions that he didn't bore the class to death. Eiji walked in with confidence that bordered on arrogance, but he was allowed to act like that. It was befitting of his power, or something like that. It also helped to make people respect him more. That was always important.

Eribusou gave him a single look before seating him. At least Eiji wouldn't have to deal with an ass kisser like his last chakra instructor. Class started. Class ended. Eiji got an idea of what changed theory-wise since his discovery of chakra. The conclusion was almost definitely "What the fuck are they talking about?" Those thoughts were never voiced, but they were definitely there.

The only person that caught his interest was a boy named Danzo Shimura. Danzo was way too cold. From the boy's memories, which Eiji felt prudent to confiscate, he was an orphan. He was also a prodigy like Eiji. Danzo was actually four years old, six months Eiji's junior. A shinobi found him mimicking their training, almost perfectly, and brought him here immediately.

This was a boy that could be a great help later on in life. With the right coaxing and prodding, Danzo could become a powerful pawn in the game. But, Danzo couldn't be let to have too much power.

The only other student that popped out at him was a boy named Marek Uzumaki. Eiji didn't bother reading the boy's mind, and settled for a base analysis. In one word, he was a brat. He worshiped Eiji and pawned Eiji's name around for popularity. It was almost like what Ron did, originally. Maybe Marek would change like Ron did.

Fighting was run by Zuko Gevelin, just like the first year class. It involved learning the advanced katas of the academy style, known as the 'Black Gait.' The class moved on without any notable occurrences. Danzo spent his time staring at Eiji for some reason, though.

Then came the last two classes. Footwork and speed were mirrored by strength-training. Both classes were back-to-back and taught by the same instructor. She was a woman with the wonderful name Suzume Fon. She was known for her intense speed. During the strength training session, another boy showed excessive strength. His name was Takato Nonaka.

Everybody broke for lunch and to go home. Eiji would break for lunch and hopefully break Zuko, too. So, with that, lunch commenced, and Eiji took a seat on a log outside of the academy. He was about to pull out his personally made tortellini alfredo, which Eiji couldn't believe they didn't have in this dimension, when he noticed Danzo leaning on a tree, still staring at him. It would have unnerved any right man. Eiji just glanced at the boy and snorted.

"Danzo, why do you keep staring at me like that? Somebody might get the wrong idea."

The boy looked slightly confused for a moment, then shrugged. Obviously, Danzo didn't get the joke. Instead, he walked forwards and stood right in front of Eiji. "What makes you so special, _Honorable Prince_" Danzo asked in a mocking tone. "Did you bribe your teachers to get here? You probably did. I bet you can't even stand up to the dead-last."

Eiji shrugged. "I'm not so sure. You're younger than me, so you should know appearances don't mean anything. Maybe you're the one who bribed your teachers."

"WHAT!? I worked hard for my place. I'm the best in the class and predicted to be rookie of the year!"

"And that means anything to my… why?"

"Hn. Why should I bother with you. I could beat you any day, at any time. Why am I even talking to you?"

Eiji looked at the boy and felt a pang of sympathy. "Because you want recognition. You want to be seen as somebody. Not a weapon like the instructors, or a man who is above everybody else like your- our classmates. You want to be seen as a person."

Danzo looked down for a moment. The boy seemed to be fighting with himself. The after a moment, he looked up, shaking slightly. He seemed to glare at the air to the side of Eiji. "You don't know anything. You don't know what it's like."

"I know more than you think," muttered Eiji. But by then, Danzo was gone; run off back to wherever he lived.

Eiji stood next to the arena in the middle of a courtyard. The courtyard had a brick wall surrounding it, preventing any onlookers from seeing what was happening. There were no windows looking out onto the courtyard, either. On top of the raised arena stood Zuko, the man that would be heading the extra fighting lessons. He had a grin on his face that Eiji thought looked absolutely ridiculous. For some reason instructors always thought that that look would strike fear into the student. For some reason, it also worked for everybody except for him.

"Today, I will be teaching you a fighting style that I have recently developed. I call it the Goken, or the Iron Fist. It specializes on speed and strength, so to do the more advanced parts, it would require you to train yourself much more. I expect you to show your fullest and try your hardest. Only then can you succeed."

What a… non-inspirational speech. Eiji stood there for only a second, then asked a question. "How's this supposed to help me with my eyes?"

"Help you with your eyes? I was just going to let you copy all of my moves so you could be better prepared when you're a shinobi of the Leaf. Why would you need help with your eyes? They're fully matured, and as soon as you're faster you will be able to react to everything you see." Zuko had a large grin on his face. At a glance, Eiji was able to discern that the man was thinking about all of fame he could get for training what will be the most powerful shinobi ever.

Oh wait. He was.

And with that, Eiji began his Saturday tutoring. He wouldn't show too much skill, but he would show enough to 'wow' his instructor even more. He would increase his skill level at a reasonable pace (for him), and then repeat.

It was like that for all of his classes. Eiji would show up, show exceptional progress, get compliments, and private tutoring. In the process, Eiji learned about how his techniques changed and evolved, or devolved depending on what it was. Then, the teachers would show him new jutsu and other techniques, some of which were actually useful, others not so much. Zuko was the only one who knew about the sharingan, so he showed Eiji jutsu after jutsu, and skill after skill. That went on until Zuko could no longer teach Eiji anything, and instead, Zuko went to study new things to pass onto Eiji.

Eiji had an excuse to know about 100 jutsu and three fighting styles (which he most definitely won't use). He could probably use some of his own, and use the teachers as an excuse for knowing them. The average chunin knew, on average, fifty to one hundred jutsu, whether nin- or gen-. They were also proficient in a single fighting style. Some, who were experienced in a fighting style, usually waned on the number of jutsu they knew, such as with Zuko. Most, though, were too busy thinking about the awesome techniques they could do with chakra.

As with relations, Danzo refused to talk to Eiji for most of the year. He began to speak more after what could be considered too long, but it was still infrequent. Eiji could see that Danzo wanted to talk with him, and to be close to someone. There was just something holding him back. Eiji didn't dare impede on the boy anymore than that first time. It would be disrespectful to do so on a personal level.

Eiji became acquaintances with a boy named John Kohn-Ihl, as well, but that relationship wouldn't last through the genin exams. Marek Uzumaki hadn't changed. It turned out that Marek was a second cousin who was raised to believe in racial and standard superiority. He felt like he was better than everybody outside of the Senju, Uzumaki, and Uchiha clans.

That documented his whole social life. His time spent at home was spent looking through archived documents for any hints as to the locations of the 'Tailed Beasts.' There was a clue to the location of the Hachibi. It was seen moving North from Sky Country into Steam Country, West of Lightning Country. The mission report was interesting by itself.

It was a hunter-nin report detailing the sudden disappearance of a traitor. The traitor was a Uchiha. Riku Uchiha. The traitor had stolen a personal scroll of the apparent 'Nara' clan. It was made of several Suzuki clan members branching off their light bloodline to encompass shadows. The scroll was supposed to contain genetic sequencing done specifically by Hashirama, to allow for insight into bloodline implantation.

This Uchiha, though, was able to use a technique extremely similar to one of Akai's. Eiji was confident that if he could encounter Riku Uchiha, he would be able to get information on the whereabouts of Akai. Because Eiji was certain that Akai did not die so long ago.

The whole theory was off of a gut feeling. Eiji felt like Akai Rikudou was still alive, somehow. He wouldn't dwell on it, but the feeling was there. If Eiji could find him, then he could kill Akai once and for all, to rid the world of that man. Eiji knew it wasn't a good reason, but he wanted to do it for revenge. He told himself it was for a good cause, but he knew it wasn't.

The year passed by like hell on wheels. It took no time for the gennin exams to come around, and Eiji found himself staring down the examiner, ready to become a shinobi of the Leaf. If not for patriotism, then it was for the betterment of his goals. The whole class settled with an unnatural tension. The quiet was disquieting. The silence was painful.

It was broken by the scream of a woman- Eiji recognized the voice as the receptionist at the academy's office. Half the class froze, staring at the door in fear. The examiner, who happened to be Ikaru Izuka, rushed through the door, sending it off its hinges. Eiji stood for a moment before speeding on after.

This was something that Eiji would not miss out on.

* * *

I apologize for the shit that I posted today. If I didn't do too bad, tell me that in a review. It would make me feel better.

Also, on the topic of updates, I work when I have subject to work with. I get so many ideas that I can't work on something else until I have that other idea down. Then, at some point, I'll get another idea for an earlier work, such as this, and begin to work on this again. In the meantime, I've started about eight other stories, and posted the first part of two. One is made for making fun of things that don't make sense in anime and fanfiction. The other is a Kingdom Hearts and Harry Potter x-over called "Understanding." I think Understanding is a pretty cool work, and I'm trying to do it artistically. Check it out and tell me what you think.

Again, I hope this isn't too bad, and the next chapter, at least, should be of a higher quality. There just wasn't enough specific pieces I could put in this chapter after a certain point, and I didn't want to do a conventional time-skip. But, I ended up going with the conventional time-skip. Sorry for being cliche.

Also, on a final note, or stanza, or whatever you want to call it, I reach out to those of you who are writers. No, I am not asking you to adopt this story (I don't think you're fit to be the parent of such an evil story such as this one. I wouldn't do that to you.). What I'm asking is that some of you write your own versions of this. You can start your own beginning and make it completely different, or take what I have and build off of it. I implore you, and challange you, to take this to a whole new level. All I ask is that you send me a PM or a review telling me about it, because I'm interested in what you, the writers, think should happen.

It doesn't have to be good, or well written. Just be creative. That's all I ask. This deal is open for all of my stories, as well.

Benedark Reloaded.


	11. Tell Me What I Think

I would like to apologize in advance. I lied to you. The genin exams won't happen until next chapter. This chapter has some mystery and detective-esque stuff in it, and next chapter will have some action before and during the genin exams. I expect next chapter to be a pretty long chapter, but don't get your hopes up.

Also, I wish to know if you prefer shorter chapters (1k to 2.9k) with faster updates, mid sized chapters, which I have been doing (3k to 5.9k), or long chapters, which I don't particularly like because of the terrible transition quality I have unless I'm starting a new chapter (6k to 10k), but long waits for updates. Please send your responses to me in reviews, I really want to know.

Ash. That's what it smelled like. Ash and blood. Like rustic charcoal and copper. There was smoke wafting through the hall like a thick fog. It obscured vision and destroyed many of the other senses. The sound of choking was heard off in the distance. It was probably the sound the useless receptionist choking on her own blood while shinobi tried to save her.

That was the biggest problem with this village. They let the traitor or enemy get away, instead focusing on saving the single person that needs help and letting more people potentially be harmed. Because of their compassion and love, everybody else suffers. Eiji had done such things, himself, in the past. He did it because it was what was morally right.

The morally right thing to do, though, generally tends to be the worst thing to do, though. Especially in a ninja village.

It's what made Eiji train Akai Rikudou. It's what killed Harry's godfather, Serius. It's what forced wars to drag out and cities to die. Belief and love and compassion create and breed hatred. Wars begin and end because of 'Evil and Good.' To erase those lines would mean heresy. To bring peace would mean blasphemy. To love without hate; without fear, would mean death.

But, truly, what is death but an aspect of life? To live is to hate and love and believe. To live is to obey laws so others can live. Governments rise to produce some modicum of order in lawlessness. That's just how the world works. In order to live, one must believe in morals and 'right and wrong.' In order to survive, though, one must let die.

The question becomes simpler, then, though at the same time much more complex: What is more important? To live, or to survive?

Eiji rounded another corner, using a jutsu to filter the air into breathable oxygen. The walls were blazing hot. Fire engulfed them, and the walls were crumbling to dust and ash. The floor was stained black. Eiji couldn't feel the heat- possibly some side-effect from the Nibi. But he could feel the deaths of two men and a woman fast approaching.

It only took several seconds to find the epicenter of the destruction. It was in the front of the building near the office where the original scream came from. The ceiling had collapsed on top of a genin who had been passing through. It was a man in his early thirties. He was screaming as his body burned. He would die within minutes, Eiji could tell. He was meant to die, though. Eiji could almost feel the burning aspect of death breathing down his neck. Flamebarge loved to do that.

Right next to the unfortunate genin was a civilian who probably came to witness his daughter's skills. Eiji had seen the man a few times leading a young girl through the school in the mornings. He was crushed and dead. He probably died while Eiji was still coming. There was no blood, only blunt force trauma and severe bruising. The screaming still echoed from the first guy.

The last person, the woman, was in her cushiony chair. She had a hand, bloody red, upside down on her lap. The other was draped over the arm of the chair. Her neck was slit through with a large knife, probably a trench knife. The cut went through, like it was stabbed, and it was wide enough. The incision didn't show any tearing, so the knife wasn't brought across, unless it was guided by wind natured chakra. There was no chakra signature large enough to consider that theory, though.

The only person that had a knife like that that Eiji knew about, though, was Marek Uzumaki. While Marek definitely had the skills from learning from his family, the boy wouldn't have been stupid enough to do it unless he was influenced by an outside force. That was very unlikely, though. Somebody would have seen the meeting. The ANBU always patrol, and would have noticed. And all ANBU were accounted for.

So, it had to be an infiltrator who carried a trench knife. Somebody like that would be in the bingo book, but Eiji couldn't think of any off the top of his head. Which meant that the infiltrator more than likely stole Marek's knife for the deed. But, if it was Marek's knife, then…

Eiji dashed to the small Uzumaki residence. Most of the Uzumaki clan were situated in Uzushigakure, but there were a few in Kanoha. The door was open, and a few distinct Uzumaki members were scrambling around, worriedly. Eiji slowed down to a walk, and entered undeterred.

One of the women noticed him first. Red hair and green eyes. She swiveled towards him.

"What do you want- oh, Honorable Prince Senju! What do you need? As you can see, we're quite busy right now."

Eiji sighed. It went unnoticed throughout the room. More heads turned towards the two, wondering what was going on, but only for a minute. They quickly got back to work, busying themselves with whatever there was to do. They fidgeted time after time. One dropped a bowl, and it shattered on the cold tiled floor. Some cleaned it up. Over all of this, there was a noticeable tension. Like an ominous wind hovering over the household.

"Is something wrong? Everybody looks nervous."

The woman looked towards Eiji and smiled. It was strained, and the creases on her forehead were very obvious. With another glance around the room, Eiji noted lightly that most of the people in the room were women, and all of them civilians or genin.

"Everything's fine," she said. "We're just straightening the place up for when the great shinobi of the family get home."

There was a small staring contest as Eiji tried to analyze the look on the woman's face, but didn't pry. It wasn't his business. "Well, I'm here to see Marek-" the woman's hand twitched. "To see if he's okay. Marek-" another twitch "-wasn't at the exams earlier. Is he here?"

"No, he's not here right now. You should come back later. He'll be here then."

The woman looked near tears, but kept a strained smile on her face, like it may make the world better. Eiji looked at it with only an analytical eye, not caring for the woman's problems. But, there was something wrong. Obviously she didn't expect Marek to come back. This meant Eiji would have to find the boy himself.

Eiji never really cared for Marek, so he never familiarized himself with the boy's chakra signature. So, sensing was out. Prying any more information from the woman would be detrimental, and invading her mind in such a state could cause more damage than good. The next best option would be to get information from patrolling ANBU members.

With his mind made up, Eiji dashed towards the closest ANBU, half a mile away. It was a man with a sparrow mask. He stood stock still, out in the open. He didn't move as Eiji approached. It was like he was petrified by a basilisk. Maybe it was that paralysis jutsu he had heard about?

Eiji approached the black clad man carefully. He searched for any abnormal chakra signatures nearby, but found none, other than the occasional civilian trudging along down on the street and the plant life.

The next thing Eiji noticed was the abnormal movement of the ANBU's chakra. Only a powerful genjutsu could alter the chakra to the point of almost reverse circulation. This meant that the person probably had a bloodlimit that specialized in genjutsu. There were too many clans with that potential in the world, some of the most prominent being the Uchiha of the Leaf, the Shinkirou and Naka clans of Kirigakure, and the Sakkaku clan of Kumo. Kirigakure was unlikely to make such an offense, but it was possible for Kumogakure to be brave enough to make mount such an offensive.

Eiji reached forward and snatched the mask off of the man. The face that greeted him was of a scarred man. He had a grisly appearance with several slashes, 'small incisions, was from a small, dulled blade, inserted at a forty degree angle to create scars like those. Missed the frontal lobe and scraped through the side of the skull. Small punctures from stitching work, and a metal brace to hold it together,' scarred the man's forehead. Blue, spiked hair stood up, flowing backwards off of his head. His natural purple eyes glazed over, unseeing.

Eiji placed his hand onto the man's temple where the metal brace was. It would act as a transit to the man's mind, making it easier to break through possible mental defenses. Metal always seemed to make mental travel faster and safer.

Images flashed through Eiji's mind. Information came with it. It was a routine village walkthrough. Nothing was supposed to happen. Then, an unidentified man was spotted. There was no information on the man in the bingo book, and he wasn't in the village rosters. He had blond hair and blue eyes. He also wore a brown suit under a red cloak.

The ANBU, Shitori Akahiitaa, had trailed the man to a darker part of town before attempting to apprehend the man. With a first strike maneuver, Shitori threw paralytic senbon at the target's neck, striking hard and fast. Just as the unknown man fell to the ground, the man vanished. Next thing Shitori knew, there were two blue eyes staring into his, and he heard the words "Mind Destruction Jutsu. Comp…"

That was when the memory cut off. It was unlike a genjutsu, where the person kept experiencing things. This was like the mind just shut off. But, this narrows the choices down to a very small group. An incredibly small group, indeed.

Luckily, Eiji now knew where to look to find the intruder. The man was headed towards the Dorinu district, which was one of the major shinobi districts. In it was the Huuga compound, Furasshu compound, Ohi compound, Bisuma compound, Kusu compound, and the Senju compound.

With a near instantaneous transportation, Eiji appeared standing in an alleyway away from the sight of anything living. Once there, he stepped out into the light of the streets to find few people walking around. Most were out on missions, with the others too busy relaxing to care about going out. And there, in the middle of the street, walking towards the Huuga compound, was the blond haired, blue eyed intruder.

Through a quick analysis of the man, Eiji concluded he was trained as a medic nin, based on the incredible control he had over his chakra and the slight bulges that took the shapes of possible medical equipment under his cloak.

The most probable reasons the man was here, then, was to obtain the Huuga bloodline. It would a false endeavor.

Eiji appeared within the Huuga's security barrier seal. Then, he waited. And waited. The intruder stepped up to the security and pulled out a brush and some ink. So the man had experience in fuuinjutsu, too. That was surprising. This was a dangerous man. Unless you were Eiji.

It took only seconds for the barrier to fall, and it was done in such a way that nobody was alerted. A fake barrier was constructed to keep chakra sensors from noticing the distinct lack of protection, as well as alerting the guards inside. It was an incredible plan, and a masterful use of seals. Eiji couldn't help but be impressed with a man, this young, having a talent for such an obscure art.

The man stepped through the gate quickly and quietly. He was like a shadow. The epitome on a true and powerful ninja. But it didn't hide him from Eiji.

Eiji struck quick and powerfully. One second, Eiji was hiding behind the gate, the next he was standing where the man once was, with the man imbedded into the wall like a pin halfway through cloth. The force was so great that the wall didn't even crack. The man was lodged straight into Huuga compound's main house wall, a hole through his chest and bones turned to dust.

But then, something unexpected happened. The man simply vanished. And it was then that Eiji felt like hitting himself for being so stupid.

"Dammit. I hate genjutsu." He activated his eyes and looked around. It took only a second to find the mysterious man and look into his eyes. Eiji was satisfied with his mental defenses, so he wasn't worried about the destruction of his mind.

"Impressive. You've broken my genjutsu. Tell me, how did you break it? I layer my genjutsu, and the average shinobi would take hours to get through the bottom-most layer. I am curious."

Eiji shook his head. "I don't think so." There wasn't any real problem with letting the guy talk his last words. "You're not getting anything from me."

"A shame," the other man sighed. It was a long and drawn out two words, extended like a rubber band before snapping. "I'll just have to kill you, then. I wish you luck in the afterlife."

That didn't sound at all like Kumo. Shinobi from that village weren't known for being respectful or kind in any way. But this shinobi was obviously from Kumo's mind walker clan.

"I don't think I have to worry about dying. You, on the other hand…" Eiji let the statement draw out. A silence descended on them. Eiji took little notice of the fact that nobody noticed they were there. Not even the ANBU who walked within two feet of Eiji before running off to continue patrols.

The man chuckled. "You're quite cocky, aren't you? Just like the other shinobi of this village. You think you're better than everybody else because of your 'great' shinobi. You had Madara Uchiha and Hashirama Senju, but for what? They're only two people. You're not them. The rest of you are weak! Now die! 'Mind Destruction Jutsu!'"

The man formed a hand sign, and Eiji felt a slight pressure in his head. It might give him a headache later. This man was powerful. Very powerful in stealth and assassination. He was also very proficient in his mind techniques. If Eiji was anybody else, he would be dead. Eiji decided to play with the man. "What? Was that supposed to hurt?"

The man was suddenly assaulted by horrendous laughter. "Interesting. You have an immunity to my mind destruction technique. Maybe you have somehow built up a defense to them. A new bloodline, perhaps? Well, I'll never know unless I look! 'Mind Disillusionment: Traveler's Connection Jutsu!'"

The world evaporated around Eiji. Behind the wisps of color fading to something else, there was a fast glimpse of a portrait. It was a picture of him, standing with all of his friends around him. Hugging him. Caring about him. Hermione had a hand on his shoulder, standing behind him. Ron was holding Hermione's other hand. Dumbledor was standing imperiously in the background. Neville and Luna, and everybody else was there. Even Akai was there, sitting in front of him, a large smile on his face.

Eiji smiled widely. It was for only a brief moment, but it was a nice thing to see. It was a heartwarming sight. But then it was gone. The whole thing was replaced by a large grassy field that he had never seen before. Halfway across the field was a giant spiked wall, covered in blood and death. Ramparts jutted out, powerfully. It looked to be made out of cobblestone and heavily fortified with strong tempered steel. And it was vast. It stretched out into the distance until it couldn't be seen. It went on forever.

The sky was black. It was like night, but it was too black. No light shown through. But he could still see, despite the lack of light. The world was outlined with color. The grass was green with splotches of red. The trees were autumn trees. Colorful leaves of yellows, browns, and blues floated down throughout the grassy clearing.

But, there was no life. Not a living thing could be seen, or sensed anywhere. It was a desolate plain; abandoned. An eerie stillness settled into the air. There were no sounds besides that of the leaves trickling down. Even those, besides the occasional one, stopped. There was no wind, no clouds, no sense of time.

It wasn't an illusion, Eiji knew. If it was an illusion, his sharingan eyes would have broken it immediately. Now that he was thinking about it, he couldn't sense any irregularities in his chakra, either. An irregularity would have immediately alerted him of a genjutsu, now that he was paying attention. For the moment, Eiji decided, it would be best to have a better look around. He turned around, and stopped dead.

Eiji felt his eyes widen in complete shock. There were no words to describe what he felt. In front of him, the world just ended. A black abyss stretched out into eternity, never ending. It was just black. Nothing but black. It was like it didn't exist. It was like an unfinished puzzle wanting to be finished.

Everybody dreams. Everybody thinks. But do they truly understand? The whole concept of understanding; of knowing, is to be certain. But, the truth is, even when you're certain, you really know nothing.

The mere thought- _whisper_, of knowing something, is blasphemous. All it does is teach you how ignorant you are. It shows how much you truly don't know. It is the ultimate fault. The greatest miscalculation is a calculation, because of the simple fact that nothing is as it seems.

So, how do you put a puzzle together? You can't be certain of which piece goes where, even if it looks like it does. You take one piece and fit it into another. You build it up, one by one. It forms, uncertain and unpredictable, into a masterpiece. It becomes complete. It becomes close to certain, until it falls back apart. It was only a shadow that was grasped.

"This is… amazing." A voice knocked Eiji out of his reverie. "It's so complex. It's so complete. This can only belong to a god. Only thousands of years should be enough time to refine a world to such an extent."

Eiji turned around to face the voice, suddenly on guard. He hadn't sensed the figure until just before it started talking. It was like the figure appeared out of nothing. The voice and figure was recognizable, though. It was the mind walker.

"Where are we? Where did you bring us?"

The man jumped, startled. Hadn't he realized he wasn't alone? The blond arian turned his head every which way, searching for something.

"I'm over here," Eiji said a little louder.

The man's eyes widened, and he started shaking slightly, like he was scared. It looked like he had just spat on a god, and was fearing the wrath he would receive. His head still twitched in several directions as he backed up to an enclosed tree in the middle of the field. A small hole sat at the base, big enough to crouch in and have a superior view. He was like a scared animal, finding a place it could defend itself in, if necessary.

"W-who's there? Where are you? What do you want with me?" The man was shaking a little more noticeably. He was stumbling over syllables and every breath he took was sharp and strained. What happened to the confident man who was trying to kill him before?

Eiji let a look of confusion draw upon his face. "Why are you so scared?" he called. The man was pretty far away, but Eiji could see a tear dip down to the ground from his cheek. It glistened slightly, even with the lack of sunlight. This man, Eiji realized, thought he was going to die a painful and brutal death. That could be the only possible reason for him acting like this.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I've killed and murdered in cold blood. I repent my sins! I'll never kill again! Just let me live! I'm sorry! I don't want to go to Hell. I don't want to go to Hell…" the man was on the ground. Eiji stared at his form, the one huddling in a ball under the tree. His face was deformed and contorted into self-inflicted agony. The agony of fear.

Eiji approached slowly and cautiously. The man might do anything in such a position. The most probable reaction would be to lash out violently and dangerously. The adrenaline would strengthen him to unbelievable levels, and it could become deadly. Eiji could heal, but it would still be very painful. And, Eiji would have to kill the man.

He was within five feet of the man when he decided it would be best to get the man's attention. "Sit up," Eiji commanded. The man did so almost instantly. The blue eyes were impossibly wide, full of fear.

"Now, tell me. Where are we?"

* * *

I wonder if anybody can guess which clan the blond haired man if from.

Anyway, what do you think? I cut out all angst I could from this chapter, and I don't expect anymore angst for the next, like, five chapters. I'll update the poll, because the six graduates have been chosen. Next, we get to choose who will be on Eiji's team. I honestly don't care. The choices will be from the graduates from the previous year who were in the reserves, doing their own training. Vote soon, because this poll will end in less than ten days.

Also, remember that if there's anything you want to see happen in this story, feel free to ask. I'll try to incorporate OCs, events, and even ideas for pretty much anything. Don't be shy.

Benedark is done.


End file.
